Work study program helps senior pay full-time tuition

Senior Lyssa Morrow has a lot on her plate. As the student supervisor at I.D. Weeks Library, she is responsible for the other student workers at the library’s circulation desk, opening and closing the library on weekends and making sure students are safe in emergencies.

Morrow’s job sometimes ends up keeping her at work from 10 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. the next day. As an art major, Morrow’s studies outside of work can’t be done in the library, and her days never seem to end.

“Most students think, ‘You can get your work done at the library.’ No, I can’t,” Morrow said. “My work just ends up being a lot of late nights and early mornings and some extra hours.”

For many students, time on campus provides plenty of stress. With the price of higher education constantly growing, college students around the nation are looking for solutions to reducing payments on loans after graduation.

In order to help students balance the price of education and academic work, the University of South Dakota provides qualified students with job opportunities around campus through the work study program.

“Work study changed everything for me,” Morrow said. “It allowed me to go to school full-time, pay for it and work well with your schedule.”

Financial Aid Director Julie Pier said work study is a great option for students who need a kickstart on becoming full-time students and help handling the expenses that come with it.

“Work study is a federal need-based award that allows students to get a job on campus and earn a paycheck,” Pier said. “The role of work study is to allow students to get a job on campus and hopefully work in a department that may in some way contribute to their education and their degree.

Work study programs are not new to USD. Similar programs have been around college campuses for years, but one thing that has changed is the way students can find job listings.

Megan Lueders, manager of employer relations for the USD Academic and Career Planning Center, is in charge of placing work-study positions online for all students to access through the MyU portal.

She said departments around campus generally hire at the beginning of semesters, allowing students to work through the whole semester.

“Students can look for work study positions throughout campus. I would say the majority of the departments, if not all of the departments on campus, offer work study positions throughout the year,” Lueders said.

In order for students to be eligible for the work study program, they must be granted permission through the Financial Aid Office on campus. Students qualify according to their Free Application for Federal Student Aid report. If granted work study, the students are awarded through their student loans. The amount of weekly and daily work required by students varies from job-to-job.

“When you file the FAFSA, you’re applying for all the federal aid programs. The student fills out the FAFSA, the information comes into the school, and we award you what you’re eligible for,” Pier said.

According to Pier, the university is given a certain amount of dollars every year to go toward work study. If students are awarded work-study hours, but do not accept the award, the extra funds are set aside for other eligible students on a waiting list.

“Students who didn’t receive a work study job and might want one, they can contact us, and we’ll tell them yes or no,” Pier said. “We’ll do anything, if students are eligible, to try and get them a job.”

For work study students like Morrow, work study jobs have contributed to their times on campus in more than a financial sense.

“I can’t speak for every work study job, but I know if working in the library has done anything, it has helped my studies. It’s amazing how it has helped me figure out what I am doing and worked with me toward graduation.”