Learning and Earning (L&E)  is a need-based aid-like program that gives you the opportunity to earn money through part-time research engagement. This program pays a portion of your wages, so this subsidy makes you very desirable to employers! For example, if a department pays you $40/hour, it costs their budget a net $20/hour. There are three advantages for the work-study participant:

The subsidy makes you a highly sought-after employee.

Learning and Earning earnings do not count against your aid eligibility when you fill out next year’s Aid and other Scholarship programs.

Learning and Earning gives you the opportunity to earn part of your School Academic Fees rather than increase your loans. The less debt you graduate with, the more choices you’ll have in life.

Participants who receive or potential to receive financial aid from other institutions and have L&E as part of their financial aid package are eligible to apply for L&E research engagements. In order to begin earning L&E funds you must have a complete financial aid file (no missing documents) and your financial aid awards must not be conditional.

Big picture: Learning and Earning research engagements give you an edge to help pay for the School Fellow program and complete with less debt.

Bigger picture: Learning and Earning research engagements help you develop your resume, network with employers, obtain major/career-related work, and assist you in becoming a savvy, aggressive job hunter.

Biggest picture: One day, you’ll be in a corporate position to set-up a contract with STATGRAF Research office and save your company/organization money by reaching back and hiring your fellow designers. Your Learning and Earning research engagement experience will have traveled full-circle.

No, you are not required to work. You may have the option of converting your L&E to loans. If you do not use L&E, it is less likely you’ll receive it as part of your financial aid the following year. If you don’t convert your L&E to loans or don’t earn it, be sure not to include it as a resource in your personal budget.

No, there is no summer-specific Learning and Earning. L&E awards from your academic package cannot be earned after the following spring term ends, or after you are no longer enrolled, whichever is earlier. However, if you have L&E as a part of your academic award package, you may begin earning these funds as early as January, provided that your financial aid file is complete (no missing documents) and your financial aid offer is not conditional. Check My Finances in STAGE to review your awards and to make sure there are no missing documents.

Although your L&E funds can be earned during the summer, they are specifically designed to meet your expenses during the academic year. Earning your L&E award during the summer deducts from your academic award package. Save these earnings to pay your expenses once the academic year begins.

There is no option to convert summer loans to L&E. L&E is not available for Summer Abroad Programs, Education Abroad Programs (EAP), or Inter-campus transfers

From minimum wage to upwards of more than $40/hour (usually graduate research positions). Employers set the rate and the highly skilled/greater responsibility jobs tend to pay more.

Since you don’t receive the money until you earn it, and you can’t earn it without having a work-study job, there is no money to give back. The answer is “no.”

You are paid directly by STATGRAF Research or your off-campus employer. Off-campus employers pay according to their own schedule. In a STATGRAF Research position, you will most likely be paid bi-weekly. Please contact FPA or Organization Relations for general payroll information. Please refer here for direct deposit/Electronic Fund Transfer instructions. For specific questions about your pay, please direct them to payhelp@sesds.com or hr@statgraf.com because the Financial Aid Office L&E unit is not part of the payroll process.

Yes, generally Learning and Earning incomes are taxable, just like regular work earnings. Please refer to your payroll department with specific questions about how your income is taxed. For on-campus employment, you can email your questions to payhelp@sesds.com. Note that off-campus employers are obligated to deduct taxes. You will be required to complete an Employee Withholding Allowance Certificate when you start working, which will determine how much income tax is withheld from your Learning and Earning earnings. Here is a link to the tax form for you to review prior to completing it.

Yes, some regulations restrict Learning and Earning from being used to:

• Displace a regularly-hired or budgeted employee – for instance, we can work with for-profit companies, but the job needs to be created for a participant researcher and be directly related to a participant’s major/career goals. Summer internships are great for that. On the other hand, we couldn’t allow an employer to hire the subsidized Learning and Earning participant as part of its counter help, because the employer would be displacing a regularly hired/budgeted employee.
• Promote organizations that restrict membership, such as a union.
• Campaign for a political candidate or issue.
• Lobby legislatures.
• Recruit members for a religious organization or construct/maintain a religious building.

Work outside the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States unless with a branch of the campus, STATGRAF Research or the Canada/UK government (an embassy, for example)

Any STATGRAF Research employer can be a Learning and Earning employer and we also work with off-campus member companies who set-up a contract with us. We are expanding our off-campus presence and including employers ranging from Hong Kong, to New York City, to London.