Student Employment

Student employees are individuals whose primary role at Wichita State University is the pursuit of a course of academic study and who, incidental to that primary role, are employed by WSU to work on campus. The rules of the Affordable Care Act apply to all employees of the University, including student employees. Categories of student employment include:

  • Regular student employment
  • Federal work study
  • Graduate assistantship

Student employment is considered a type of financial aid and should be used to enhance the recruitment and retention of students. A person may not be employed as a classified or unclassified employee simultaneous to student employment. Criteria for student employment includes:

  • Students may not be employed in an unclassified professional or university support staff position simultaneous to student employment.
  • All student employment applicants must be enrolled at the university.
  • Student employment applicants must be able to provide a social security number prior to employment at the university.
  • International students must complete an International Student Employment Verification Form. This must be presented to the Social Security Administration to receive a social security card, which is required to work on campus. For additional information, refer to the instructions for the Glacier Nonresident Alien Withholding Tax Compliance Form.

Eligibility Requirements - Enrollment

Academic Year - Includes Fall and Spring semesters when school is in session. Additional information can be found on the HR-Payroll Schedule.

  1. Students must maintain minimum enrollment of six (6) credit hours when working 16-30 hours per week, or maintain minimum enrollment of three (3) credit hours when working 15 hours or less per week. Students may work up to 40 hours per week during academic breaks such as spring and fall breaks, and during the summer semester.
  2. International students must maintain lawful F-1 or J-1 status in order to be eligible for employment. Generally, that requires maintaining minimum enrollment of twelve (12) credit hours for undergraduate students and maintaining minimum enrollment of nine (9) credit hours for graduate students for each semester they are employed. In addition to maintaining lawful F-1 or J-1 status, international students will be subject to the same eligibility requirements for student employment as resident students.

Summer - Students may work up to 40 hours per week during the summer semester, typically beginning the week of Finals during Spring semester. Additional information can be found on the HR-Payroll Schedule.

  1. Students must meet one of the following enrollment criteria to work during the Summer semester.
    • Admitted to the University as a first semester freshman or graduate student.
    • Did not work Spring semester as a regular student employee and enrolled in six (6) hours in Spring semester.
    • Worked Spring semester, and enrolled in the following minimum credit hours in the Fall semester:
      • Domestic: three (3) credit hours
      • International graduate: nine (9) credit hours
      • International undergraduate: twelve (12) credit hours
    • Enrolled in Summer semester for two (2) continuous credit hours.

Refer to the following policies for specific guidelines regarding student employment.

SME: MH/MI/LL/BL

Updated: 05/11/2022 LP/SRAP