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. 

ANNOUNCEMENT FWS 2020-2021

UPDATE:  October 2020.  Great News!!  We are happy to report that we have received guidance to move forward with hiring a limited number of returning Work Study [WS] eligible students for areas that have identified themselves as having a need to hire and for whom are able to supervise student workers remotely [see list below].   Students who were active WS working in Spring 2020, you may be eligible to return to work if your location has a position available.  For eligible WS students who were active WS working during the Spring 2020 semester at a location NOT shown in the list below can request to intereview for any open positions [provided positions are still available].  We are actively reviewing and processing eligible returning students and sending notifcations with instructions via email.  Please note: At this time we are not able to hire New Work Study students.  Check back regularly for updates. 

ANNOUNCEMENT FWS 2020-2021 - 7/1/2020

At this time, the Financial Aid Office is not able to provide students, staff or the community with information on positions available on the Federal Work Study (FWS) Program for Fall 2020. As of 07/01/2020, we are yet to receive guidance on regulatory relief from the U.S. Department of Education applicable to the Fall 20 semester.  As a general rule FWS students are not permitted to work unsupervised therefore not permitted to work from home.  The guidance and administrative relief issued by the Department of Education for the remainder of the Spring 20 semester expired on May 30, 2020. As the State and the SDCCD Board weigh in on changes to the re-opening plan, and hopefully approve some kind of permissible plan for all 3 Colleges, the information on this page will be updated.

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 potentially range up to $6,000 per school year depending on each student's individual potential eligibility. 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, 2021 for 20/21, April 15, 2022 for 21/22, 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 determined 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 accepted.  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.