As the task of paying for college becomes increasingly
daunting, more students are turning to programs like work study to lighten
fiscal burdens.

The Financial Aid Office works with the Career Services
Center to provide work-study jobs around campus. About 98 percent of on-campus
jobs can be used for work study, including those at dining halls and the UCSD
Bookstore. Work-study awards can even be used in any non-work-study jobs with
consent of the work-study coordinators.

Students apply for work study each year by submitting a Free
Application for Federal Student Aid and other documents requested by the
Financial Aid Office. Students who fall within a certain income range are
granted a work-study award, which ranges between $600 and $2,800 depending on
need.

“Work study is part of our financial aid award,” said
Financial Aid Director Vincent DeAnda. “We have works, loans and grants. Some
students that don’t want to work take out bigger loans and package it with
those three things.”

Work-study jobs are nearly identical to normal jobs.
Students are paid every two weeks for the hours worked. Employers pay 50
percent of the wages while the federal government provides the other 50
percent. Work-study jobs are also as competitive as regular jobs, as preference
is often given to students with work study. However, income received from
work-study jobs is not included in calculating total income for financial aid,
so students can receive other financial aid that they qualified for before work
study.

The Financial Aid Office, located on the third floor of the
Student Services Center, prepares the financial aid packages for students who
qualify, and organizes the work-study program.

“We don’t want to price [UCSD] out so a poor student or even
a lower-middle income student can’t come here — or a middle class student for
that matter,” DeAnda said. “We don’t want the fees to be so high that a middle
class family can’t pay them.”

One place students can work is Sierra Summit, John Muir
College’s dining hall. Sixth College sophomore Kathy Tsou works as a floater at
Summit, where she was trained to work at every station, including the kiosk,
smoothie station and ice cream station. Tsou decided to get a job at Summit
because of the convenience of its on-campus location and the good food.

“Working is very important because it is how I am paying
parts of my way through school,” Tsou said.

With so much going on, the $1,000 to $1,500 a year for
tuition Tsou earns from working at Summit definitely takes some financial
pressure off her mind.

With the high cost of college, work study provides students
a way to avoid taking out more loans and relieve money-trenched woes.