VCU cancels federal work-study program for spring semester

VCU froze the Federal Work-Study program after budget cuts to the program in Congress. Photo by Anthony Duong.
Emily Grinstead, Contributing Writer
Virginia Commonwealth University will freeze hiring for the Federal Work-Study program ahead of the spring 2025 semester, according to an email sent to FWS students shared on Reddit.
Students enrolled in the spring semester Federal Work-Study program received an email announcing the decision to “not open Work-Study hiring for the spring 2025 semester,” according to the Reddit post. The student was informed that their Work-Study award was therefore canceled for the spring 2025 semester.
The decision follows an $11 billion budget cut for the Department of Education by the House of Representatives’ Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies subcommittee. Furthermore, there was a cut of $615 million to the Federal Work-Study program, according to the Fiscal Year 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
The FWS program provides jobs for undergraduate and graduate students in financial need to help fund college expenses. Students must be authorized in an official FWS position, on- or off-campus, to receive funds. Students can then earn a set amount of money throughout the academic year, according to VCU’s Student Financial Services website.
The program at VCU is federally funded through a “specific and limited allocation” of funds provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Edwin Funes, VCU’s assistant director of Federal Work-Study, stated in an email. With the limited funding, the university decided to close hiring for the spring semester.
Compounded by budget cuts in Congress, the program has reached capacity, with about 1,300 students enrolled in the FWS program at the university during the 2024-2025 academic year, according to Funes.
“We have reached our hiring limit and funding capacity for the academic year. As a result, the FWS program will not reopen hiring for the spring 2025 semester,” Funes said.
This decision does not impact students currently employed in Work-Study positions, according to Funes. Furthermore, the decision will not impact eligibility for FWS in the future.
VCU encourages students who were denied FWS employment to take advantage of other on-campus and close-to-campus employment opportunities offered through Handshake, which do not use FWS funding, Funes stated in an email.
Daniella Ruiz, a third-year psychology student, is currently employed for the spring 2025 semester as a research assistant. She said the professor she is employed with informed her the program would not be hiring any new students for the spring semester.
“My professor did say how they couldn’t hire any more research assistants,” Ruiz said. “So I was a little worried on my behalf because I don’t know what that meant for next semester.”
A friend of Ruiz working under FWS received an email regarding not being rehired for the spring 2025 semester, according to Ruiz. The friend shared the emails with Ruiz and others in the program, who were unaware of the decision made by the university to freeze hiring due to budget restraints.
“I thought it was interesting how she got it and the rest of us didn’t,” Ruiz said.
Kaitlyn Lee, a fourth-year psychology and gender, sexuality and women’s studies student, has been employed as a research assistant through FWS since last fall. Lee heard about the program’s cancellation towards the end of last semester.
“Given that so many students rely on these positions and the opportunities they provide, it is very disheartening and urges me to know why these positions are being cut from those who need it most,” Lee stated in an email.
Faustina Koduah, a third-year information systems student, has been employed through FWS since her first year at VCU, and is currently employed for the spring semester. Koduah said the program supports her essential needs, like buying groceries.
“I feel like a lot of people with lower income households will struggle because the Work-Study is made for them, and it really has helped me and a bunch of my other friends who also are in the program as well,” Koduah said.