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New opportunities for workstudy experiences
May 23, 2019
Students may have new opportunities for a broader range of work experiences under an experimental program announced earlier this week by the Department of Education.
In advance of the Federal Register notice, the Department issued a May 20 Electronic Announcement inviting postsecondary institutions participating in federal work-study programs to participate in a federal work-study experiment under the Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI). After the invitation is published in the Federal Register (the publication date has not been scheduled), eligible schools will have 45 days to respond.
According to the Department, this experiment will provide participating postsecondary institutions with waivers of statutory and regulatory provisions to test how changes to the Federal Work Study program will increase partnerships between institutions and industry, improve student retention and completion, reduce student debt levels, and yield strong post-graduation employment outcomes.
Under this experiment, participating institutions will receive waivers to:
- remove limits on the portion of an institution's FWS funds that may support students employed by private-sector companies,
- increase the number of hours per week an FWS student who is enrolled in a work-based learning program may work,
- reduce the share of wages that must be covered by private-sector employer, and
- pay low-income students for work experiences required by their program of study.
The official version of the announcement to be published in the Federal Register is attached to the Electronic Announcement.