Financial Aid Programs

Federal Work-Study Program (FWS)

FWS Job Openings

One position currently open for Winter and Spring Quarters, despite the hiring freeze:

Student Accounting Assistant I with the District's Business Services Office. See link below under Current Openings for job description and application instructions.

Temporary Freeze on
Federal Work-Study Hiring

All of our 2021-22 FWS funds
for FWS student jobs have been allotted.

We hope to have funds available for more jobs Winter Quarter.

District-funded student jobs are not affected by this.
See our general Student Employment webpage.

Our FWS positions are mostly remote Virtual Campus jobs this fall quarter, but we will have some student employees on campus.

Note:

All student employees are required to be physically located in California when doing any work, even if they are working remotely.
Any student employee working on campus must be fully vaccinated and submit proof of vaccination.
Fall jobs start as early as September 1st.

We hope to be able to offer more Federal Work-Study jobs when we return to campus.

Links to Current Job Postings (No current job openings)

Important: Before applying to any of these job postings, be sure to read the eligibility requirements and other information below for all Federal Work-Study jobs.

Get a Job On or Near Campus!

Federal Work-Study (FWS) is a federally-funded program that helps make jobs available for students with financial need. It is one of the types of financial aid that you apply for when you submit your FAFSA.

While most of our FWS jobs are currently virtual, in normal times most of Foothill's FWS jobs are on our main campus. We also have a few community service positions at nearby elementary and high school campuses (tutoring--also currently virtual) and sometimes a position or two at our Sunnyvale Campus.

While being eligible for the FWS program does not guarantee you a job, it does allow you to apply to a number of positions open only to FWS students.

Benefits of a FWS Job

You only need to be enrolled in (and earn) 6.0 or more units each quarter. (Other student jobs require 12.0 units.)
We have a listing of current FWS job openings—and supervisors eager to hire.
Income earned in a FWS job will not affect your future financial aid eligibility.
Note: Income earned in your FWS job is taxable like any other income. When you fill out your FAFSA, you would list it as your income earned from work. However, you will also list it as income from "need-based employment," and it will be excluded when FAFSA makes its calculations about your financial need.
You will gain valuable work experience, make contacts that could benefit you for years to come, and have an employer who knows your education comes first and who will be as flexible as possible with your work schedule.

For more information on all forms of Foothill student employment, see our Student Employment page.

Frequently Asked Questions About FWS

Am I eligible for a FWS job?

Basic FWS eligibility requirements:

Be enrolled in at least 6.0 units at Foothill, and
Be in "Good" or "Warning/Probationary" standing for financial aid; and
Have a Federal Work-Study Option in your Foothill financial aid award for the academic year.

Special Notes:
- At times, the Federal Work-Study Option does not appear when it should. If you have either a Pell Grant or a Subsidized Federal Loan offer, you may be eligible to apply for any of our FWS jobs. Please email Emily Mandy at FHStudentEmployment@fhda.edu. If you are eligible for the option, she will add it to your financial aid award.
- Sometimes seeing a Federal Work-Study Option on your award can be misleading if you were given a 12-month financial aid budget but were not enrolled in at least 6 units in summer. In that case, we must recalculate based on a 9-month budget when a campus employer checks your FWS employment eligibility. If a student has a high EFC (expected family contribution), the result may be that they no longer have sufficient financial need to qualify for FWS funds. Fortunately, this does not impact most of our financial aid students. If you have any questions about this, you can contact Emily Mandy at FHStudentEmployment@fhda.edu.

You must also meet the requirements that apply to all student employees:

If you have a Foothill-De Anza GPA:

Your cumulative GPA must be at least 2.0, and
Your most recent quarter's GPA must be at least 2.0.
If you earned fewer than 6.0 units that quarter, your most recent quarter earning at least 6.0 units must also have a GPA of at least 2.0).

You must also have fewer than 180 attempted units at Foothill and De Anza colleges combined.

How much can I earn?

Most students are allowed to earn up to $3,000 per eligible quarter, but the amount can be less depending on your financial need. The actual amount you earn will depend on the job you choose, your salary, and the number of hours you work.

How do I get a FWS job?

Read the job postings on this page for any jobs you might be interested in. Each posting contains specific instructions about how to apply for that particular job. You may apply for as many jobs as interest you, but once you interview for and accept a job, please withdraw your application from other jobs unless all of your employers agree on dividing your permitted hours.

Apply early

Each year we have enough funds to fill only about 25-30 FWS positions. Once those funds are awarded, hiring stops.
We start interviewing for Summer-start positions (which begin as early as July 1st) in June. Interviews for Fall-start positions (which can start as early as September 1st) can start as early as mid July.
Historically, we are out of our initial pool of funds by October 31. That said, fund availability can change throughout the academic year. As long as jobs are posted on this webpage, we should have openings.

What happens when I accept a job?

Once you agree to accept a job, your hiring supervisor will start the hiring process by emailing the Student Employment Coordinator in the Financial Aid Office to confirm your eligibility. If confirmed, first-time Foothill student employees will be sent up to three AdobeSign documents to fill out and sign:

Conditions of Employment Agreement
Student Employment Packet
I-9 (federally-required work authorization form)

Please read the instructions for these documents carefully. Any errors require that the document be rejected and a new one sent for completion. (If you have worked as a Foothill student employee in the recent past, you may not need to fill out any additional documents.)

(Students who have held a student employee position at Foothill in the very recent past need fewer--and possibly no--additional documents.)

Once your required documents are accepted as complete, your hiring supervisor will be sent an email authorizing you to begin work. Your supervisor will let you know when you can begin. Be sure to give your supervisor a copy of your class schedule. Students are never allowed to work during scheduled class time.

What if there are no current job openings?

Additional FWS jobs (and funds) can open up throughout the year. Keep checking.

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