Financial Aid
Work Study

COVID-19 OFFICE CLOSURE

Currently, the Mesa College campus is temporarily closed due to concerns about the spread of Coronavirus/COVID-19.  The situation is being closely monitored and the San Diego Community College District is responding with an abundance of caution to protect the health and safety of students, employees, and our community.   Mesa College will therefore now be operating remotely and for an indefinite period of time.  The San Diego Community College District is working with public health agencies to determine when on-campus operations will resume. 

CURRENTLY WORKING WORK STUDY EMPLOYEES:    Beginning with the campus closure to students as of Monday 3/16/20 and for the remainder of March, students will be paid based on their monthly average of worked hours [using your average Maximum Hours per Week as shown on your timesheet] not to exceed your total Hours Remaining for Spring.  If the campus closure and online classes continue past April 1st, students will be paid based on the remaining award for those with less than 100 hours of employment remaining, and students with greater than 100 hours remaining after March payroll will be assigned 25 hour per week in HCM [employee portal] until the federal provision expires [per March 5, 2020 E-ANN] or the student’s total hours remaining are exhausted, whichever comes first.

Federal Work Study funds for the full school year generally will begin to be awarded in July.

Federal Work Study (FWS) allows students the opportunity to earn part of their Financial Aid by working in assigned jobs, both on and off campus.

Awarding of FWS funds is extremely limited due to the small amount of funds received each year. In General, FWS awards can range up to $5,000 per school year. Students must be in Good Standing based on the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress policies to be considered for FWS. 
[NOTE: Students in a disqualified Financial Aid status will not be eligible for Work Study.]

Eligibility is determined based on the following priority criteria:

• FAFSA application date (For priority consideration, your FAFSA must be filed no later than April 15th for any coming school year, for example:  April 15, 2018 for 18/19, April 15, 2019 for 19/20, etc.)
• File complete date
• Financial need based on the FAFSA methodology and EFC.
• First-Come, First-Served priority

If eligible: Interested students should check in with the Financial Aid Office at SD Mesa College to request Work Study.  If detemined eligible, the student will be given an employment packet, including a Live Scan Fingerprint scan, TB test and series of employment forms.  There is a limited timeline to complete the steps once the employment packet is received and the award accecpted.  If not accepted by the date posted [See the Payment & Disbursement Dates page for the latest posted Deadline to Accept your Work Study Award. ], the award will be cancelled and passed on to an eligible student on the waiting list (See section Waiting List).  Returning students (a student who had worked the previous academic year) will be given priority re-hire if eligible. 

Once the initial hiring steps are all complete, the Work Study Coordinator will schedule a meeting to verify the student eligibility, review all documentation and provide a referral to interview at the desired department or employment location. Note: Students with convictions may be ineligible to work depending on the type and number of convictions.