Submit Eligibility Application
1. Apply for eligibility— click the link below to fill out the application form. The C2 Hub will review your submission and get back to you within 48 hours.
Submit Eligibility Form HereProgram Overview
The Off-Campus Work Study program at MSU Denver is an option available to non-profit, government, and for-profit agencies that are not politically affiliated.
There are two types of allocations:
- 1) non-profit and government off-campus agencies agree to pay 25% of a student’s wage, while the other 75% derives from the student’s federal work-study award.
- 2) for-profit off-campus agencies agree to pay 50% of a student’s wage, while the other 50% derives from the student’s federal work-study award. Agencies can apply at the link below.
Approved agencies may hire MSU Denver federal work-study students to work part-time in their organizations. Work-study is allocated based on the financial aid package an individual student receives. Please note that packages are unique to each student’s situation. A student must indicate on their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) they are interested in work-study. Students may also contact our Financial Aid office and indicate their interest in work-study.
*Students who receive No-Need Work Study are not eligible to work off-campus through the work-study program.
Become an Off-Campus Work-Study Employer
CareerLink Profile Creation & Registration
2. Create a Career Link profile—Career Link is the platform used to post your open positions and recruit candidates. Click the link below to register and create your profile.
Click Here to Sign Up for CareerLinkReady to Hire Your Selected Off-Campus Work Study Student?
Please use the link below to provide the C2Hub with your selected student's information.
Hire My Off-Campus Work Study StudentNeed Help with CareerLink Registration?
For more assistance with CareerLink and to view our employer help guide, please use this link.
Frequently Asked Questions about Off-Campus Work Study
Contracts are valid for the current academic year (July-June).
Employers will be asked to renewal their contract at the start of MSU Denver’s fiscal year (July).
While there isn’t a limit to the number of hours a student can work per week, we don’t recommend that students enrolled in full time coursework work more than 20 hours per week. Note: work-study funds cannot be used to pay for overtime hours. Wages for hours worked over 30 hours per week must be paid directly by the off-campus employer.
Yes. If the C2Hub is open and our Student Employment Coordinator can approve time, students may work during breaks (this includes winter break, spring break, etc.). However, remember that work-study funds cannot be used to pay for overtime hours.
Yes. Work-study earnings are limited to the student’s work-study award. For example, if a student’s work-study award is $3,000, that’s the maximum amount he or she can earn during that academic year. Be sure to factor that in when putting together your student’s work schedule.
Please click here to report your final candidate and our team will contact you with next steps.
Probably not. If the student was previously employed with MSU Denver within the last year, another background check is not required. However, you must still submit the hiring request through this form to initiate the hiring of the selected student.
For work-study positions, employers must post an approved job description in CareerLink. However, you can share the posting link with your interested/selected student, in addition to setting filters for specific student targets (i.e. work study eligibility, major requirement).
Students are not permitted to be employed in more than one work-study position at a time, and work-study may not be utilized in combination with a other needs-based awards within the same semester.
However, students are permitted to hold a work-study position and up to two on-campus student employment positions at the same time, provided they do not exceed the 30 hour per week threshold.
Terms & Conditions for Hiring an Off-Campus Work Study Student
FWS Conditions & Limitations of Employment
All FWS work, whether on campus or off campus, has certain conditions and limitations. FWS employment must be governed by those employment conditions. One of these conditions is an appropriate rate of pay, according to the type of work performed, the geographic region, the employee’s proficiency, and any applicable federal, state, or local law, including state or locally established minimum wage rates.
FWS employment must not displace employees (including those on strike) or impair existing service contracts. Replacement is interpreted as displacement. Also, if the school has an employment agreement with an organization in the private sector, the organization’s employees must not be replaced with FWS students. Replacing a full-time employee whose position was eliminated (for any reason) with a student employee paid with FWS funds is prohibited. Moreover, this prohibition extends to instances where a school first replaces the full-time employee with a student position paid with college funds.
FWS positions must not involve constructing, operating, or maintaining any part of a building used for religious worship or sectarian instruction. In determining whether any FWS employment will violate this restriction, a school should consider the purpose of the part of the facility in which the work will take place and the nature of the work to be performed. If the part of the facility in which the student will work is used for religious worship or sectarian instruction, the work cannot involve construction, operation, or maintenance responsibilities. If that part of the facility is not being used for religious worship or sectarian instruction, the school should make sure that any work the student will perform meets general employment conditions and that other limitations are not violated.
Neither a school nor an outside employer that has an agreement with the school to hire FWS students may solicit, accept, or permit the soliciting of any fee, commission, contribution, or gift as a condition for a student’s FWS employment. However, a student may pay union dues to an employer if they are a condition of employment and if the employer’s non-FWS employees must also pay dues.
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, prohibits employers (including schools) from accepting voluntary services from any paid employee. Any student employed under FWS must be paid for all hours worked.
A student may earn academic credit as well as compensation for FWS jobs. Such jobs include but are not limited to internships, practicum, or assistantships (e.g., research or teaching assistantships). However, a student employed in an FWS job and receiving academic credit for that job may not be
- paid less than he or she would be if no academic credit were given;
- paid for receiving instruction in a classroom, laboratory, or other academic setting; and
- paid unless the employer would normally pay a person for the same job.
Working During Scheduled Class Time Prohibited
In general, students are not permitted to work in FWS positions during scheduled class times. Exceptions are permitted if an individual class is cancelled, if the instructor has excused the student from attending for a particular day, and if the student is receiving credit for employment in an internship, externship, or community work-study experience. Any such exemptions must be documented.
Paying FWS Overtime
Although there is no prohibition on paying overtime in the FWS Program (for example, someone working on a stage crew may have to work overtime during a production), FWS is a program designed to provide part-time employment, and students should not often work in excess of 40 hours in a single week. Overtime and payment for overtime hours may not be used in a way that would create an overaward in the student’s financial aid package.