Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 28— - HIGHER EDUCATION RESOURCES AND STUDENT ASSISTANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - STUDENT ASSISTANCE › Part Part C— - Federal Work-Study Programs › § 1087–55
An eligible college or school may keep up to 10 percent of its federal work‑study money from one fiscal year to spend in the next fiscal year. If the school does not keep those funds, the money goes back to the Department of Education and can be given to other schools in the same State until the end of the second fiscal year after the year the money was for. The Department may also let a school use up to 10 percent of its yearly work‑study funds early, to spend in the fiscal year before the money was formally for. Schools can pay students for work done after the academic year ends but before the next fiscal year starts using the next year’s money. At a student’s request, payments may be made by charging the student’s school account or by direct deposit. The school may only charge the school account for tuition and fees, institution-owned room and board, and other school-provided goods or services. After a major disaster, a school in an affected area may pay disaster‑affected students for up to one academic year for work they missed. Payments cannot exceed what the students would have earned, cannot go to students who were not eligible or not working before the disaster, and must meet the usual matching rules unless the Secretary waives them. Defined terms (one line each): "Disaster‑affected student" — a work‑study student who earned wages, was kept from finishing work obligations by the disaster, and could not be reassigned. "Major disaster" — has the meaning given in 42 U.S.C. 5122(2).
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Reference
Citation
20 U.S.C. § 1087–55
Title 20 — Education
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73