Student Employers

Benefits of Hiring GW Students

GW Departments and FWS Partner Organizations can greatly benefit from hiring a GW student to work with their office or organization. Students are energetic, skilled in many areas, and ready to learn! They also understand the nuances of a university setting and can bring a student perspective to many projects and activities. GW students eagerly seek opportunities to practice their developing skills, learn more about various content areas, and give back to their university and D.C. community.

Select either GW Departments or FWS Partner Organizations to learn more about how your department or organization can hire a GW student employee.

If you are an employer outside of the university looking to hire students for full-time, part-time, or internship positions, please review the Center for Career Services’ Employers page for information on recruiting at GW.

About Student Employment Positions

Student Employment does not assign students to specific jobs but rather provides them with the resources necessary to locate positions and be successful in their search. For GW students, participating in part-time employment during their college years can help them gain a variety of experiences and learn workplace skills that can be used in their professional careers. Our office helps facilitate that process by managing all recruiting, hiring, and onboarding aspects for hourly paid student employees.

Limitations to Student Employment Positions

Types of Positions: Individuals may not hold a student employment position while they are hired into a full or part-time benefited staff position, or non-student temporary staff position, and may be fully or partially limited in holding a student employment position while being hired into a GA or GRA position.

Student Employment at GW does not refer to full-time, part-time, or internship opportunities at external organizations or jobs through University Human Resources or Graduate Student Assistantships & Fellowships. Please contact those departments for more information about available opportunities.

Tuition Benefits or Stipends: Student employee positions are not eligible for tuition benefits or stipends as a form of compensation or work performed.

Working Internationally: GW is a U.S.-based entity and, therefore, expects and requires student employees to be on campus or perform duties at an approved U.S. location. Due to international tax and compliance issues, GW is not able to directly employ students into positions who receive compensation through the GW Payroll Office if they are physically located outside of the United States.

Puerto Rico Exception: students working in remote positions from PR but will remain on the US payroll may be eligible to telework depending on their job duties. Supervisors, please contact Payroll Services ([email protected]) to obtain clearance for the student to work remotely from PR.

Type of Student Positions

GW Departments can hire students into two types of positions: Federal Work Study (FWS) Positions or Non-FWS Positions. Off-campus FWS partners will only hire students into FWS Positions. FWS is explained more in the next section.

Student employees may perform general office tasks, serve as ambassadors for the university or the department, support facilities functions, work in libraries, and assist with events. Many students also perform IT support functions, manage social media and communication activities for departments, perform research, assist in the classroom and labs, and much more. For a list of the student employee position, types review the Student Employee Position Types Document.

FWS Program Information and Requirements

What is FWS

FWS is a federally funded work program with oversight provided by the U.S. Department of Education. At GW, federal funding covers 75% of the student’s wages, and the remaining 25% is covered by the department or off-campus organization. An 6.5% fringe fee is added to the 25% department portion, as determined by the GW Budget Office.

The Office of Student Financial Assistance determines whether or not a student is eligible and how much FWS funding an eligible student receives. Neither Student Employment nor the Center for Career Services plays any role in determining who receives a FWS offer or the offer amount a student is granted.

FWS Earnings and Hours

Students are not authorized to earn more than their allotted FWS offer amount during a given school year. Therefore, it is important for students and employers to work together to monitor a student employee's hours. Use this pre-programmed Excel sheet to calculate how much of their offer a student has earned to date and how many work hours they have remaining. In rare cases, the Office of Student Financial Assistance may adjust a student’s financial aid package in a way that reduces or eliminates the FWS offer. Only the student will be notified of this change.

Ask your student employee regularly if they have received any notice of changes to their FWS offer. The department or off-campus organization will be responsible for 100% of any earnings for hours worked prior to the student being cleared to start working or in excess of the student’s FWS offer.

Limitations to FWS Positions

Students may only earn up to their FWS offer amount during the specified FWS program year (fall and spring semesters only). Also, students may only work one FWS position at any given time. However, they may hold Non-FWS position(s) in addition to their FWS position.

Additionally, there are federally regulated restrictions on the types of work that FWS students may perform. FWS students cannot displace regular employees. FWS students also cannot construct, operate or maintain any part of a building used for religious worship. FWS students can work as an assistant to a professor, but the work performed must be for the benefit of the institution or must be something that the institution would normally support. For example, if the University would normally pay an assistant to conduct research on a book being written privately by a professor, then a FWS student could perform this task. If that is not something the University would normally support, then a FWS student cannot be employed as such.

How to Contact Student Employment

Student Employment is available by emailing [email protected] or calling 202-994-8046. We are also available for virtual appointments for employers and students; please visit our Support Meeting website to schedule your appointment.