Federal Work Study & On-Campus Employment

The Federal Work Study and Non-Work Study Program at Bergen Community College

“Commitment to Excellence in Nurturing Student Success”

Listed below are some guidelines to ensure your success in the On-Campus Student Worker program.

Benefits

  • Assists with School Expenses: The Federal Work Study Program (FWSP) is an earn as you go program that allows need based students to receive money for college expenses.
  • Prevents Debt: By earning funds for school expenses, students can reduce their out of pocket expenses, thus borrowing less in student loans.
  • Positively Affects Student Development: Students that work part-time, on-campus achieve higher grade point averages and faster degree completion in general, than their non–working peers. Studies show that these students also have more frequent intellectual growth.

Federal Work Study Program (FWS) 

The Federal Work-Study Program is a federally-funded program for students who need financial assistance with educational expenses. The program offers meaningful part-time employment on campus or with an off- campus community service organization to eligible students while enrolled at Bergen Community College.

Due to funding limitations, the Financial Aid Office cannot guarantee a job for everyone. Students are encouraged to begin their job search as early as possible after they receive their federal work-study award. Students will be interviewed and placed for jobs on a first come, first served basis.
Please contact the Career and Workforce Development Center for placement (located in One-Stop Center).

Federal Work Study Flyer

The Maximum award FOR FWS STUDENTS will be $2,000 for the academic year, if eligible.

A listing of all available positions will continue to be maintained in the Career and Workforce Development Center. In order to further improve this process, we plan to post all job leads for student employment on our soon-to-be online job board platform, Handshake.

Student Employment Positions Availability and Classification

  • A listing of all available positions will continue to be maintained in the Career Center On Joinhandshake.com
  • General Student Aide Positions classified into a Tier system.

Tier 1:  $15.13 (code U)  Student Worker Base pay (minimum wage)

Lifgaurds: $16.50

 Please see below for pay rates for Tutors, Peer Advisors and Mentors.  Due to the professional nature of these positions, these students need special qualifications and need to meet certain academic requirements to attain these positions.  For listings, you may come into the Career and Workforce Development Center to view.

Level  Tutor Pay rates  SI Leaders Pay Rates 
1 $16.00 $17.00
2 $17.00  $18.00

Allowed FWS Hours and Funds Limit

  • WORK HOURS: 20 hours for all student workers.
  • Up to a $2,000 cap on FWS; after the FWS award is exhausted the student CAN earn additional money as a non-FWS, WHICH MUST BE APPROVED BY FINANCIAL AID. 
  • Students will be evaluated on a yearly basis to be raised to the next tier; plus the credits and academic standing that are required for that tier.
  • All major communication will be communicated via a memo to students with the paycheck.
  • Students will not be dropped from work unless they have been terminated for reason. Once hours are exhausted, which is indicated on your time sheets as they have been, work is complete for the year. This means you have reached the CAP for FWS.

Student Procedure for Obtaining a Job on Campus

The student should:

  1. Apply for financial aid by the advertised deadline dates.
  2. Receive a financial aid award letter via email or regular mail indicating they have received a work study award. (Please make sure BCC has a valid email address on file).
  3. Apply for jobs using Handshake. You will create an account using your Bergen credentials.
  4. Select a position of interest based on the job postings offered in the Career and Workforce Center and apply directly on Handshake.
  5. Students that have been hired will complete the On campus employment form 
  6. Student will receive email with employment verification documents and a link to make an appointment with on campus employment coordinator to submit new hire forms and documents,
    Students will not be cleared to work until all paperwork is completed through the Career and Workforce Development Center .
  7. Once forms have been completed students will receive an email from ADP to set up account and track hours using ADP. 

Cancellation of Federal Work Study Funds

  • Students who are awarded FWS funds and have not secured a job by a certain date decided by financial aid will receive notification from Financial Aid of award cancellation.
  • Students with FWS who do not appear on the payroll at least once a month could be in jeopardy of having their work study funds cancelled unless we hear from the student.

FWS Notification To Students Who Have Exhausted FWS Funds

(On Campus & Community Service)

  • Students & Supervisor will receive written notification when a student has reached the midpoint of their award. This will be considered a pre-warning of students reaching their maximum award.
  • If for any reason a student has exceeded their award, the Supervisor will be held accountable and the excess will be charged from their department budget.
  • Community Service Supervisors: Students will be paid ONLY the amount of the award eligible to them through FWS.
  • Please be sure students do not exceed that award.

Contact

Louie Aguilera – Federal Work Study Advisor laguilera1@bergen.edu