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Work Study

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.

    1. Must have completed FAFSA
    2. Answer “YES” when asked about Work Study on the FAFSA
    3. Student must have demonstrated financial need according to the FAFSA
    4. Enrolled at least half-time (6 credit hours)
    1. Applications are accepted on JobCat 2.0
    2. Log in using your WCU credentials
    3. From the main page, locate and click on Jobs
    4. Click Search
    5. Locate the Position Type
    6. Select Work Study and click Apply
    7. All available positions will be displayed
    8. Follow the directions to apply within the application
    9. Supervisors will select applicants to interview
    10. Once hired, follow the hiring process instructions
    1. Student is offered job and provided the appropriate hiring documents.
    2. Student emails workstudy@wcu.edu to schedule a hiring appointment. The student should include a preferred date and time of the appointment. Although the preferred date and time cannot always be honored, the Assistant Director will always make an effort to accommodate the student’s schedule.
    3. Student brings hiring documents and identification to hiring appointment at the Financial Aid Office.
    4. The AD and the student will complete the Federal I-9.
    5. Hiring documents are processed by the AD.
    6. Student and supervisor are emailed a start date, payroll calendar, and instructions for entering their time in MyWCU.

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.

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