Increasing Your Work-Study Eligibility

Budget Appeal

If you have a small Work-Study offer or if you are close to earning your total award, you might be able to increase your offer if you are eligible to make an adjustment to your student budget. Your financial aid offer is based on a standard student budget that is derived from average expenses that Cal students have reported on a survey. If your expenses are over the average of certain expenses, such as monthly rent and utilities, you should fill out a Budget Appeal form.

If you download the appeal form you will see the types of expenses that you might be able to claim. After completing the form with adequate documentation, you will submit it to the Financial Aid Office. A counselor will review it and if it is approved, you could ask for the adjustment to be added to your current Work-Study award.

Converting Subsidized Loans to Work-study

If you have a subsidized loan that has yet to pay out, you can ask to convert all or a portion of the loan to Work-study. You can do it online, in the Financial Aid Offer Letter section of Bear Facts. It will take between a week and two weeks to see the conversion on your Offer letter.

You can also complete a Federal Loan Change Form and submit it to the Financial Aid Office (FAO). It is best to talk to someone in person at the In-Depth area of 211 Sproul Hall to make sure you understand the process.