Work Study is a federally-funded program that provides part-time job opportunities to eligible students to assist them with education and education-related expenses. Western Carolina University students can gain valuable work experience through community service, working in a job related to their major, or obtaining a job in an area of interest.
Students are offered work study based on financial need, federal funding, and availability of funds. They’re paid bi-weekly through direct deposit. Work-study funds do not used to pay university charges and will not appear on the semester billing statement.
Please contact workstudy@wcu.edu to determine your eligibility for work study or if you are interested in hiring a work-study student.
You must complete a Federal I9 before you can begin working for Western Carolina University. Failure to complete an I9 prior to your start date places WCU out of compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986/1990. If a federal audit were to occur, WCU could be penalized with fines and/or loss of funding. Please see the List of Acceptable Documents and bring originals, not copies, with you to your hiring appointment. Failure to provide all original identification at your scheduled hiring appointment will result in a delay in the hiring process.
To change a job, student must resign from their current job by completing a Student Employment Change Form with their current supervisor. They will then be able to complete the hiring process with their new supervisor. All documents will need to be submitted to WCU Financial Aid and Scholarships and a start date provided before the student can begin working in the new job.
Students can be terminated from their work study jobs for poor performance or exhausting their Federal Work Study funding. A Student Employment Change Form will need to be completed in order for the termination to occur.