Students who hold positions partly subsidized by the government will be making less under the new minimum wage increase.
Students who work in Federal Work Study positions—such as dining hall and library employees and assistants in college offices—will only be allowed to work seven hours per week to compensate for the 10 cent increase in minimum wage to $7.95 per hour.
Previously, those students were able to work 10 hours per week. Most work study students only worked eight hours—those students are projected to lose $119 annually.
Ohio University hasn’t cut Federal Work Study student hours due to a minimum wage increase in recent years, but the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships experienced a 38 percent increase in student employees this year, said Valerie Miller, director of student financial aid and scholarships.
Federal Work Study positions are partly subsidized by the government but require the university to match the funding pool by 25 percent. For OU, federal allocation totaled $1.2 million for about 600 students in the 2013-14 academic year.
“The student cannot receive more than their need, and a school cannot allocate more than they are awarded,” Jane Glickman, press officer at the U.S. Department of Education, said in an email.
This policy has been set only for Spring Semester, and the number of hours could change if fewer students receive Federal Work Study positions in the 2014-2015 academic year, Miller said.
“Just to be safe, this year we’re being sure we’ve looked at everything thoroughly to make sure we stay within our allocation,” Miller said.
Other student positions, such as PACE and hourly employees, won’t be affected.
At OU, PACE employees are funded by OU endowments matched by university central funds.
Students employed under PACE will continue to work 10 hours a week for up to 300 hours a semester, according to an email sent by the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships.
Student hourly employees, who are paid internally by OU, will receive the increase in minimum wage without having their number of hours cut.
“There’s nothing from our office that’s mandating any kind of a reduction for anyone that’s considered student hourly employees,” Miller said.
Michael Reigle, a junior studying physical education and a student employed by Federal Work Study at Alden Library, said he was disappointed to hear the increase in minimum wage would hurt him overall by cutting the number of hours he could work.
“Just because there’s a 10 cent increase is not going to make it so I have a whole other hours-worth of work on top of that,” Reigle said.
Reigle said he already needed to find another job to supplement his library position even before the cuts.
“I’m already just barely getting by having this job here,” Reigle said.
If a student experiences financial difficulties due to the smaller amount of funds they are receiving, Miller said the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships can consider his or her situation and possibly allocate him or her one-time emergency funds.
“Certainly if the student is in a situation where that shortfall is causing any sort of a hardship, we’re open to speaking with those students to see if there’s anything to help them out to work out finances,” Miller said.
dk123111@ohiou.edu
@DanielleRose84
This article appeared in print under the headline "Minimum wage bump cuts some students’ hours"
