The U.S. Department of Education will grant students who lost their work study jobs this spring due to the coronavirus at least part of the money promised in their financial aid package.

Students who are still able to work remotely will continue to receive normal wages, but those who are unable to work remotely will be paid a percentage of the hours they were supposed to work, according to an April 3, email from Eric Sykes, vice president of enrollment management. Work study supervisors decided which positions could be performed remotely.

“(Federal regulations) required that we calculate how many hours the student was scheduled to work for the remainder of the semester,” said Victoria Hampton, university director of financial aid. “Supervisors were then asked to estimate those hours, based on their office needs and how many hours students were earning before residence halls closed.”

The federal funding for work studies will not apply to non-federal work study jobs. 

Most students with work study jobs still haven’t heard specifics about the exact percentage they will receive, but are waiting to hear from their supervisors.

When Robyn Karashik, a technical services and acquisitions assistant at the Arnold Bernhard Library, first found out residence halls were closing, she was concerned about her work study.

“I totally get why (residence halls were closed) in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but at the same time I’m now unemployed and unable to find a new job since nobody is hiring due to the virus,” Karashik said.

Although she is unable to work from home, she was happy to hear she will get some pay.

“I think I’ll be receiving a percentage of my pay, which is pretty fair considering I can’t do any work remotely,” Karashik said. “I’d say I’m satisfied.”

Bailey House, who worked at the Office of the Registrar, said the new partial reimbursement policy is beneficial to students and their families in this difficult time.

“I’m happy that not just me but other students will be able to get some money to help out with everything going on right now,” House said.

Hampton said Quinnipiac is trying to do everything it can to help students who are financially strained by the coronavirus outbreak. The Office of Financial Aid is currently working on policies and forms to help students who were affected which will be announced in the next few weeks.

“Even if we can’t help at this moment, we will add students to our waitlist, should funds become available,” Hampton said. “We recognize that this impacts students and their families in different ways and we will do our best to help when we’re able.”