I checked the box for S20 for his freshman year and this year. I didn’t want him to work because I wanted him to focus on school work and getting adjusted to college in general, but I wanted the workstudy option available in case … just in case he changed his mind second semster like thumper1 said.
It didn’t adversely affect our aid package. In fact there was a small unanticipated benefit. Because of C19, many workstudy opportunities across the country were eliminated for many needy students. The federal government realized this placed a great burden on those students, so the government distributed funds to schools to distribute to students who checked the workstudy box. The amount varied from as little as the school chose to as much as, I’ve heard anecdotally, $2K-$3K. We received some. We would not have received any had we not checked that box.
But beyond that unexpected surprise, I think it’s a good idea to sign up. If my son eventually feels the need/desire to earn a little extra money (outside of an internship) I’d rather it be as a workstudy job instead of some similarly low-paying job off campus. A sometimes benefit of an on-campus workstudy job is many involve sitting at a desk/counter waiting for someone to come up and ask for something. Many students use some workstudy jobs as paid study time - that’s harder to accomplish if a student is working off campus. When we went on a college-tour spree in 2019-20, we’d see students sitting at a bowling alley check-in counter or library service desk or at the visitor table in the Admissions office or in a gym at the check-in counter or wherever, with no one in line while they studied from open books.