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Student Employment

Federal Work-Study

What is Federal Work-Study (FWS)?

A federal aid program which subsidizes wages for eligible students.  At Princeton, some campus jobs are only open to FWS-eligible students.  

To be eligible for this program at Princeton, students must:

  • demonstrate need under the Department of Education’s methodology
  • be enrolled full time
  • demonstrate satisfactory academic progress  

Not all financial aid recipients are eligible for Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds.  Eligibility is determined annually and earnings are limited to the amount specified in the financial aid award.   Students who exceed the limit specified in their financial aid package may be required to stop working.  The Student Employment Office will notify students who are approaching their FWS earnings limit and work with them to increase the earnings limit when possible.

Federal Work-Study students are paid on an hourly basis only.  Salary, fee or commission arrangements are not permitted.  Students must be paid for all hours worked and may not volunteer their services to employer.

To see if you qualify for FWS, log in to My Financial Aid.

Community Service and Federal Work-Study

Princeton encourages FWS students to work in community service areas such as education, health care, housing and neighborhood improvement, literacy training, public safety, recreation, rural development, transportation, and other activities specified in the Community Service Act.  Community service employment can be in either public or private nonprofit organizations and is available during both the academic year and in the summer.  Students are paid for work that improves the quality of life and serves the needs of community residents, particularly low-income individuals.  Summer positions can be located either in the student’s home community or elsewhere.

Enrolled students with a Federal Work-Study job included in their financial aid award can participate.

The community service Federal Work-Study Program is a contractual agreement between Princeton University and the nonprofit agency.  Students are paid biweekly by Princeton University

The following agencies are some examples of service within the Princeton community:

  • Pace Center for Civic Engagement
  • Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS)
  • Princeton Public Library
  • The Idea Lab at Princeton High School
  • The Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES)
  • Princeton Young Achievers (PYA)