Bonamici, Kilmer Introduce Legislation to Improve Federal Work Study Program

Press Release

Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Chair of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services, and Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-WA) introduced legislation to update the Federal Work Study Program.

The Opportunities for Success Act improves the Federal Work Study Program to better provide low-income students with an affordable higher education and valuable work experience. It would expand access to career-related employment, increase funding, and update the Federal Work Study funding formula to benefit the students who need it most.

"The Federal Work Study Program has tremendous potential to help students afford college while obtaining work experience," said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. "I benefitted from Work Study, and it helped me pay for college and develop my career path. I am glad to work with Rep. Kilmer to introduce The Opportunities for Success Act, which will improve the Federal Work Study Program to better serve students."

"Education is the door to economic opportunity, and for a lot of families -- including mine -- financial aid can be the key to that door. Financial aid helps people get an education, which in turn, means more qualified workers for employers in our region, and bigger paychecks for folks," said Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06). "By modernizing the Federal Work Study program, this bill 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 legislation is supported by JFF, Generation Progress at CAP, National Skills Coalition, The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), and Third Way.

"JFF supports the Opportunities for Success Act and Earning Experience Act," said Mary Gardner Clagett, JFF's senior director of workforce policy. "The bills would significantly expand students' opportunities for work-based learning -- essential for helping students gain meaningful career exposure and experiences while in school. We must integrate postsecondary education and work to prepare all students for successful transitions into the workforce and to rebuild our nation's talent pipeline. JFF endorses these bills and looks forward to Congressional action in this space."

"The Opportunities for Success Act and Earning Experience Act will make needed investments in and improvements to the Federal Work-Study program, making paid work opportunities more accessible to students from low-income backgrounds," said Jared Bass, senior director for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress. "We are so thankful to Rep. Bonamici and Rep. Kilmer for their leadership on this issue."

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

Investing in low-income students and increasing funding for FWS to $2.5 billion over five years.
Reforming the FWS formula and revising the distribution formula to allocate FWS funds based on the total Pell Grant funding an institution receives relative to other participating institutions as well as their share of total undergraduate and graduate student need across all institutions.
Targeting FWS to low-income students by rewarding institutions that enroll and graduate high numbers of Pell Grant students.
Promoting career readiness by providing additional funding for Job Location and Development programs and requiring institutions to 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 education to work by authorizing a $30 million dollar work-based pilot program to help connect low-income students to high-quality internships. This grant program is the basis for the Earning Experience Act

, also led by Congresswoman Bonamici and Congressman Kilmer.
Enhancing student success by directing the Department of Education to survey FWS and report to Congress to inform further program improvements.

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