<p>If a student has “Employment Earning (2K/year)” on his financial aid offer (not Federal Work Study) my understanding is that there is nothing formal there, that it just means more or less “we figure you can get a job earning 2K/year to help pay some of your COA” – is that correct?</p>
<p>If you don’t have Federal Work Study, there appears to be no particular benefit offered by having that “Employment Earnings” listed in your financial aid package – you are not eligible for jobs that students without financial aid eligibility wouldn’t be eligible for, and you are not guaranteed a job or any special help finding a job. Or is there something I am misunderstanding?</p>
<p>One reason I am asking is that the financial aid people said at a presentation we attended during Cornell days that outside scholarships usually replace loans first then employment/work-study, but you could ask them to do it the other way. Seems like that would make the most sense if the student wants to be able to use the scholarships to help pay their summer earnings contribution, since they could have the scholarships “replace” the need for “employment earnings” and then get a job anyhow. (Students with outside scholarships should also ask about getting COA increased to cover things like a new computer, if needed, more expensive meal plan if needed, cost of a single if assigned to one, etc.)</p>