Student Employment
Through student employment, you can earn money while gaining professional development experience for your future career.
FWS is a federal financial aid program that helps students meet educational expenses through employment opportunities. Unlike a traditional financial aid grant, FWS earnings are not applied directly to your tuition. Rather, you receive FWS earnings directly to use toward education-related expenses, including tuition and fees, room and board, books, studio supplies and travel expenses.
Unlike federally funded FWS jobs, department-funded jobs are financed by the RISD department or office hiring the student. All students are typically eligible for department-funded jobs, regardless of financial aid status (whereas FWS jobs are only open to students with FWS as part of their financial aid package).
Most graduate assistantships originate in academic departments or divisions with graduate programs and are assigned to students by their home department’s graduate program director (GPD). Regardless of assistantship type, your position should enhance your professional and scholarly development, while also filling an operational need for the hiring department or office.
We provide international students with specialized support in a range of areas, including Social Security Number applications and tax treaties between your home country and the US.
Student Employment is here to walk you through the steps of becoming a student employee at RISD including finding your job, walking you through the onboarding process and making sure you understand your rights and responsibilities as a student employee.