History of Work-Study

 

The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 was one of the earliest forms of Financial Aid, predating Stafford loans and Pell Grants (Davis & Silverman, 2022). As a result, Federal Work Study (FWS) provided nearly 75 percent of wages for eligible students (Scott-Clayton, 2017; Davis & Silverman, 2022). The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 also created the federal program Job Corp. Job Corp to prepare individuals aged sixteen through twenty-one for the workforce (Campus Compact, 2022). A significant feature of the program was community service, with community service defined as "health care, education, welfare, public safety, crime prevention and control, transportation, recreation, housing, and neighborhood improvement, rural development, conservation, beautification, and other fields of human betterment and community improvement" (Campus Compact, 2022, para. 2).

The Federal Work Study is a campus-based federal program (Scott-Clayton & Minaya, 2014, p. 10). Unlike Stafford Loans or Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study funds are distributed as block grants to institutions for allocation with immense discretion (Scott-Clayton & Minaya, 2014). Federal Work-Study began with the initialization of The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (Campus Compact, 2022). The original goal of work-study was to reduce poverty by creating training and employment opportunities for lower-income students, thus reducing their financial burdens as these students attended postsecondary institutions (Scott-Clayton, 2017; Campus Compact, 2022; Davis & Silverman, 2022; Studer, 2019). 

As The Higher Education Act of 1965 was authorized, the Work-Study program was transferred from the Department of Labor into the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (Campus Compact, 2022; Davis & Silverman, 2022). The new purpose of the federal work-study program was to create and promote part-time employment among low-income students (Campus Compact, 2022; Davis & Silverman, 2022). The employment that these students pursued was intended to be for the public good. While the original intention of The Higher Education Act of 1965 was to aid low-income families, in 1972, the language was changed to "students with great financial need" (Campus Compact, 2022, para. 2). 

"In the mid-1970s, the average FWS award would cover over 90 percent of tuition and fees at a typical four-year public institution" (Scott-Clayton, 2017, p. 2). However, as tuition has increased in today's current climate, Federal Work-Study only covers 16 percent of the average student's public tuition and fees (Scott-Clayton, 2017; Scott-Clayton & Minaya, 2014; Davis & Silverman, 2022). Another issue concerning the language changes to the Higher Education Amendments (Scott-Clayton, 2017) is that now the focus is on institutional costs as opposed to family income (Scott-Clayton, 2017). Thus, selective private institutions are given priority when it comes to the receipt of Federal Work-Study Funds (Scott-Clayton, 2017). This is problematic due the all of the benefits that low-income individuals receive from work-study (Kenefick et al., 2015; Yu et al., 2020) and the fact that one of the original purposes of work-study was reducing poverty (Scott-Clayton, 2017; Campus Compact, 2022; Davis & Silverman, 2022; Studer, 2019). In addition, FSW funds are allocated based on past participation (Siqueiros & Campaign for College Opportunity, 2020).

This state of affairs is tragic because, as Yu and colleagues (2020) state, minority women have been evidenced to benefit greatly from work-study participation. Work-study will aid in retention and persistence (Zhang & Schmidt-Hertha, 2020; Kenny et al., 2015; West & Stirling, 2021; Lim et al., 2020; Chu et al., 2021; Creed et al., 2019;2020) ;). It will aid in retention because students who perform work tend to have better grades and can transfer skills from work to the classroom and back (Zhang & Schmidt-Hertha, 2020; Kenny et al., 2015; West & Stirling, 2021; Lim et al., 2020; Chu et al., 2021; Creed et al., 2019;2020) ;). It increases persistence because the type of labor they perform will be communal; they must work with other students and teachers doing research or as tutors or teaching assistants (Carver et al., 2017; Perna et al., 2009).