Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
June 8, 2001

Work study cut lowers earning limits for returning students

by Diana Pounds
When the Legislature recently eliminated the state work study program, Iowa State lost $438,363 in work-study funds. The cut has the potential to affect work-study jobs for approximately 800 Iowa State students.

But financial aid director Earl Dowling says he has drawn up a plan to get through next year "with minimal disruption" to work-study students and the Iowa State departments that hire them.

Under the plan, ISU officials will reduce the maximum amount that work-study students can earn and limit the number of students participating in a work-study-funded undergraduate research program. In addition, officials no longer will have the flexibility to increase some individuals' awards when they reach their earning limits or to consider work-study applications submitted after the March 1 deadline, Dowling said.

The maximum amount that returning work-study students will be allowed to earn in FY02 will be reduced to $2,000 -- $400 less than the current maximum. A student earning the university work-study average of $6.60 and working 9.5 hours for 32 weeks would earn approximately $2,000, Dowling said.

The plan doesn't change the maximum work-study eligibility for entering freshmen, Dowling added. It would remain at the current level of $1,800.

While university officials had planned to award undergraduate research assistantships to 200 students next year, that target has been scaled back to 125 to save on the work-study funds that are used to pay the students. The Undergraduate Research Assistantship program provides paid research opportunities for upper-class students and is funded by both federal and state work-study monies, Dowling said.

Iowa State had approximately 1,200 students on work-study this year, and Dowling said he anticipates about the same number of students in the program next year.

Iowa State receives $1.25 million in federal work-study funds annually. Departments hiring work-study students pay 30 percent of the students' salaries, with the remainder coming from work-study funds.