Bonamici, Kilmer Introduce Bill to Modernize Federal Work Study Program

WASHINGTON, DC [03/13/24] – Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-WA) introduced legislation to improve the Federal Work Study Program.

The Federal Work Study Program (FWS) helps thousands of students afford college every year, but a lack of resources and other restrictions prevent the program from fully meeting the needs of students. TheOpportunities for Success Act is a comprehensive and overdue update of the Federal Work Study Program that will enhance financial and educational benefits for low-income students. The legislation would expand access to employment opportunities aligned with students’ career goals, increase program funding, and reform the Federal Work Study formula so funding is assisting students with the most need.

"The Federal Work Study Program helped me work my way through college, but the dramatic increase of tuition costs has limited the program’s benefits for current students,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “The Opportunities for Success Act updates the Federal Work Study Program to better serve low-income students, providing them with wages and work experiences that will put them on the path to success in their future careers. I’m pleased to introduce this legislation with my colleague Congressman Kilmer.”

“Education is the door to economic opportunity, and for a lot of families – including mine – financial aid can be the key to that door,” said Rep Kilmer. “Financial aid helps people get an education, which in turn, means more qualified workers for employers in our region, and bigger paychecks for folks. By modernizing the Federal Work-Study program, the Opportunities for Success Act will give more students the ability to learn new skills that can lead to a career – and give local businesses access to workers they need.”

The Opportunities for Success Act would improve the Federal Work Study Program by:

• Investing in low-income students and increasing the five-year budget for FWS to $2.5 billion.
• Reforming the FWS anddistribution formula to allocate FWS funds based on the total Pell Grant funding an institution receives relative to other participating institutions, in addition to their share of total undergraduate and graduate student need across all institutions.
• Directing FWS to low-income students by rewarding institutions that enroll and graduate high numbers of students with Pell Grants.
• Promoting career readiness by increasing funding for Job Location and Development programs and mandating that institutions prioritize placing low-income students and FWS students in work-based learning positions.
• Improving access to career-related work experience by allowing students to earn FWS wages during periods of non-enrollment and requiring institutions to use at least 7 percent of FWS funds for work-based learning opportunities.
• Creating pathways from schools to careers by creating a $30 million work-based pilot program to help connect low-income students to high-quality internships.
• Enhancing student success by directing the Department of Education to survey FWS and inform Congress on areas of further program improvements.

The full text of the legislation can be found here. A summary can be found here.

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