For many people, going to university means working a part-time job while you go to school. You may have spent your summer working with industrial vehicles on a construction team or have bussed tables in the local greasy spoon but you still need more funds to pay your tuition and live and eat while you're studying. There is the option of putting out resumes to local businesses around campus. But you can also work within your university for a work-study program. Here is some information about this government-sponsored program that is now offered at more than three thousand post-secondary institutions across America.

The Federal Work-Study Program allows universities to create jobs for its students to help them subsidize their tuition fees. The amount paid out and the types of positions are determined by each university's individual needs by minimum hourly payment must coincide with federal laws. This means that instead of working with used woodworking machinery and trying to work around your school schedule, you will not even need to leave campus to earn what you need to stay afloat.

Eligibility for this program depends on your income and dependants if you are already independent of your parents' care or on your parents' income and the number of children in your home attending post-secondary institutions if you are still listed as a dependant. If your parents are a Mississauga lawyer and a doctor each making six figures, you have less of a chance of getting approved for work-study over a student with only one working parent.

To apply for a work-study placement you need to fill out a FAFSA form and indicated that you are interested in this program. This form will give the financial aid office the information they need to see if you are eligible for work-study. Once you have been approved, you will meet with a financial aid advisor to discuss possible work positions. You will explain all of your work experience, whether it was working shift work on an assembly line cutting tube or as a paperboy, and they will try to match you with a job that suits your experience.

Keep in mind that getting approved for the work-study program does not guarantee that there will be a job for you within your university. You may have to apply for a few years in a row before you can switch from working as a Toronto deck builder to being a library assistant. But, most students find that these jobs are well worth the wait.