Federal Work Study

• Although your aid award may list a certain amount allocated/awarded for work-study—say, $1,500—that doesn’t mean you automatically get that money.
• The dollars that are awarded to you must be acquired by working in an approved campus job—the only jobs on campus that do not fall under this category are those that are with outside companies such as Follett, Starbucks, Bon Appetit, etc.
• The amount of money you earn in your FWS job can’t exceed your total amount allocated. You have to find a work-study-eligible job and then work enough hours to earn up to that amount. The monetary award is simply a place holder in your financial aid record.

• The student receives a paycheck with normal withholding—the money is not automatically applied toward their student account.  
• FWS students can contact the Office of Student accounts and ask to have it applied directly to their student account.

• FWS students will have the eligibility and amount listed on their Financial Aid Offer.
• You can also double check by:
  • Navigate to my.butler.edu.
  • Select the tile that says Financial Aid.
  • Select Home in the navigation bar at the top.
  • Select Review/Accept Awards.
  • Follow all steps to review and accept or decline your financial aid awards.
• If you are unsure of whether or not you are eligible for FWS funds, please contact Financial Aid at 317-940-8200 or finaid@butler.edu.

Both. Collectively individual Colleges, Departments and Butler organizations and programs (like the HRC, residence halls, writers lab) offer more than 1,000 student on campus jobs. If you work off campus, your employer will usually be an approved nonprofit organization or a public agency. Butler has signed agreements with several private for-profit, nonprofit, and other community service related organizations for work-study jobs.

• For off-campus jobs, Butler University uses the online job search platform called Handshake. Work study positions will state “work study” in the title and include a disclaimer in the description to remind students these positions are only for federal work study eligible students.
• You may search for on-campus jobs by following this link Work at Butler

• You are good to go! As a FWS student, you can work anywhere on campus!
• Next time, you (or your parent/guardian) complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) make sure to include all income you earned as a Butler student. employee.

Several nonprofit organizations partner with Butler University by exclusively hiring students who are eligible for Federal Work-Study (FWS) during the academic year. Typically, 15 to 18 on- and off-campus organizations participate in this program. Through these partnerships, Butler University covers 100% of the student wages, up to each student’s allotted FWS award amount. Some of these organizations include:

1. Benjamin Harrison Presidential Home
2. Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis—Keenan Stahl Unit
3. Butler Center for Urban Ecology
4. Butler Arts & Events Center
5. Center for Citizenship and Community
6. Diversity Center
7. Dress for Success
8. Harrison Center for the Arts
9. Horizons at St Richard’s School
10. Indiana Arts Commission
11. Indiana Youth Institute
12. Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra
13. Indianapolis Propylaeum
14. Indianapolis Symphonic Choir
15. Orchard School
16. St Richard’s Episcopal School
17. Women4Change

• You have to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be eligible for federal work study. You will need to complete a FAFSA form for every year that you need student aid. Even if you have been awarded a work-study position for one school year, you must fill out the FAFSA again for each subsequent year.
• The foremost reason to choose work-study is that the amount of money you make doesn’t count against you when you file your FAFSA for the next year. Income from any federal work-study job is not counted in yearly income on the FAFSA. 
• Earnings from a work-study position are subject to state and federal payroll taxes. If you are currently enrolled in college full time, and currently work less than half time, you are exempt from Social Security and Medicare withholding, but not income taxes. Butler should give students a W-2 that will list all the required information to fill out your 1040 form.
• Questions? Email Financial Aid office (finaid@butler.edu) or Payroll Office (payroll@butler.edu).
• Additional information:
  • Filling Out FAFSA

No. If work-study is on your financial aid award and you don’t intend to use it, you can decline the award. However, in most cases, getting a work-study job is a good idea, especially if it decreases your student loan borrowing and the amount of student debt you’ll face after graduation.

Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in direct deposit. If direct deposit isn’t selected, paychecks will be mailed to the active campus or local address listed in my.butler.

Signing Up for Direct Deposit

1. Go to my.butler.edu.
2. Login with your Butler email address and password.
3. Click on the Oracle Employee & Financials Tile
4. Follow the steps in this guide: Create and Update Personal Payment Methods, Job Aid.docx 

Additional Info

• You’ll be paid at an hourly rate, which varies across campus. On average, students earn between $7.50–$12.00 per hour.
• You must submit your work hours each week via Oracle Employee & Financials. Your supervisor is then responsible for approving your hours. To submit your hours, follow the steps in the Accessing and Submitting Timecards quick reference guide.
• Paychecks are distributed every other week. View the 2025–26 payroll schedule.
• Learn more about Student Paychecks.
• There’s no requirement that you use the money you earn for anything specific; many students use their work-study paychecks to cover day-to-day living costs.