Federal Work-Study

The purpose of the full-time co-op Work-Study program is to provide law students with the opportunity to work for nonprofit employers who otherwise would be unable to pay them. Under this program, the federal government provides the major portion of a student’s wages, with the employer paying the remainder. The student receives weekly paychecks from Northeastern University and the employer is billed monthly for its share of the amount. The law school presently has 12 full-time co-op Work-Study slots available each quarter.

The current Work-Study rate is $14 per hour and students are limited to work a maximum of 40 hours per week. If a student works a full 40-hour week for 11 weeks, s/he will earn the maximum weekly salary of $560. If a student works 35 hours per week then s/he will earn $490/week. The employer’s contribution is about $200/week for a 40 hour week or about $172/week for a 35 hour week. However, an employer may be eligible for a reduced contribution if the organization qualifies under federal regulations as being engaged primarily in “community service work” and is one that assigns the intern to engage in such “community service work” during the internship. To qualify for the “community service work” rate, the employer must consult with the university’s Work-Study Office at (617) 373-3200. If a student can obtain such a classification, s/he will be eligible to reduce his/her contribution from $2,157 per quarter to $1,233 (based on a 40-hour week for 11 weeks). This reduced contribution for the employer will not affect a student’s total pay.

No employer may hire students under the Work-Study program unless there is a signed contract between the employer and Northeastern University. It is the student’s responsibility to verify that the employer has a valid contract on file with the Work-Study Office. If the employer does not have a contract with the Work-Study Office, the student should immediately initiate the process. The student should obtain a contract application form from the Office of Cooperative Legal Education to supply to their employer.

The employer may return the application and subsequent documents via fax at (617) 373-5175. Once the Work-Study Office has received all necessary paperwork, the information will be reviewed and contracts will be mailed to the employer. The employer must sign and return both signed contracts as soon as possible since the Work-Study Office cannot put the student on the payroll until it has the signed contracts returned to the office. Upon receipt of the signed contracts, the associate director of Student Financial Services will then sign the contracts and one will be mailed to the agency by the Work-Study Office. Once the contract has been returned to the agency they are then eligible to hire a co-op Work-Study student. Since Northeastern University cannot pay a student retroactively, it is imperative that both copies of the contract be signed by the agency and returned to the Work-Study Office before the student commences his/her work for the quarter.

Please be advised that students must be “cleared” by the University Financial Aid Office as Work-Study eligible for each quarter that they are going out on co-op. However, being cleared does not guarantee that the student will receive a Work-Study award. In order to receive a Work-Study award, students must also submit a co-op funding application to the Co-op Committee, which is able to issue Work-Study funding to only 12 co-op students per quarter.

If the student is not cleared and/or the employer cannot pay its required contribution, the student will not be eligible for co-op Work-Study funding.

Please direct any questions to the Office of Cooperative Legal Education at (617) 373-3002.