Institutions who won’t be able to meet the community service requirements of the Federal Work Study program have until next month to request a waiver.
Schools may request a waiver from the Federal Work Study (FWS) program community service requirements if those requirements cause hardship for students.
A March 24 Electronic Announcement outlines the community service expenditure requirements that must be met by a school unless the school is granted a waiver by the Secretary.
Schools participating in the FWS program are required to spend at least 7% of their FWS federal allocation to pay the federal share of wages to students employed in community service jobs with the school providing the institutional share of those wages. Also, one or more of a school’s FWS students must be employed as a reading tutor for children. Failure to do so can result in the school needing to return some FWS federal funds, a possible fine, and/or other sanctions.
If a school can demonstrate that enforcing the requirement(s) would cause a hardship for its students, the Secretary may waive one or both community service requirements. A limited number of waivers have been approved by the Secretary in the past and included situations such as small FWS allocations, rural areas, and specialized programs. More details on these examples are included in the Electronic Announcement.
Schools unable to meet the community service requirements because of a FEMA-declared disaster, can complete a waiver using the submission process outlined in the announcement.
Waiver requests must specify if the school is requesting a waiver of the 7% community service requirement, the reading tutors for children requirement, or both, and include detailed information as to why complying with the requirement(s) would cause hardship for its students.
Electronic submission of 2025-26 FWS Community Service waiver requests must be completed by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on April 21, 2025, as requests received after that date will not be considered. Schools will be notified via email of the Secretary’s decision by June 27.
Questions regarding the requirements or requesting a waiver should be directed to the FSA Partner and School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978 or via email to CODSupport@ed.gov.
