To be considered for a FWS award, please click here to add your name to the 24-25 FWS Interest List. Additional students not on the interest list may be awarded at the discretion of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships to meet the needs of the FWS program.
Students awarded FWS will be notified by email beginning in late July and continuing through August. Based on funding, additional awards may be offered during the school year. Your FWS award will be part of your financial aid package. Information on additional non-FWS employment opportunities can be obtained by contacting the UMBC Career Center.
Earning Your FWS Award
If you are awarded FWS funds, the “Undergrad Federal Work Study” award will appear in your financial aid offer on your myUMBC account. Unlike other forms of financial aid, however, the FWS funds will not apply to your account balance. Rather, you earn the funds via a bi-weekly paycheck from your employer based on the number of hours you work up to your maximum award amount.
Students are eligible to earn their awards for the Fall and Spring semesters if they enroll in credit-bearing courses each semester.
Finding a Position
Students awarded Federal Work-Study funds are notified on their award letter beginning in June. Details on how to locate a position using Handshake through the Career Center can be found in the communications sent to students for students who have accepted their FWS offer in August. As an R1 institution, UMBC promotes and supports undergraduate participation in research. UMBC faculty are encouraged to post student research-focused positions and opportunities to the FWS job listing on Handshake. FWS-eligible undergraduate students seeking to leverage their FWS funding to support an existing or new research opportunity are encouraged to speak with their faculty research mentor about possibly leveraging their FWS funding.
A list of positions for the 2024-2025 academic year will be available August 1st and will be updated through September as additional jobs become available. Contact information is provided on each job listing so students can submit their application/resume directly to the department/job for which they are interested. Please note that students can only be employed in one FWS position at a time.
Students are required to submit a printout of their Financial Aid page showing the “Undergrad Federal Work Study” award for the relevant academic year, along with any other application materials required by the hiring department.
Beginning Work
Students who have secured employment must complete a Federal Work Study Hire Form, initiated by their employer, and all other necessary payroll paperwork. Students who have completed all necessary paperwork are eligible to begin work the first day of class each Fall or Spring term. Due to limited funding, cancelled awards cannot automatically be reinstated.