Your student hire representative will likely request certain information from you to assist in hiring the student employee. The requested information and the means by which you provide information will vary across schools and units, so it is a good idea to check with your student hire representative about what they will need in advance. The following sections provide an overview of things to consider when preparing to hire a student.
Enrollment requirements applicable to graduate assistants are defined by university policy ACAF 4.00 Graduate Assistantships.
An undergraduate student enrolled at USC in at least six (6) credit hours is eligible for student employment. Graduate students without graduate assistantships do not have a minimum enrollment requirement. For more information, please review the Student Employment Policy.
Students may not work as a student employee past their graduation date.
International students are permitted to work on-campus as part of their immigration status. There are different types of work authorizations depending on the purpose of employment and the student’s immigration status. Visit the International Student Employment Guide for more information.
Student employment during the summer extends to:
- Students enrolled for the summer term,
- Students registered during the prior spring term who are planning to continue as students during the fall semester, and
- New students who are accepted for the next fall term and have registered for fall classes. (Students who qualify for summer employment on this basis will be eligible for hire no earlier than June 1.)
Students who are not enrolled for the summer but desire to use federal work study must get prior approval from the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships before they can be hired as a non-enrolled student.
Graduate students who are not enrolled for the summer term are not eligible for Graduate Assistantships but may be eligible for other forms of student employment if they meet the above criteria.
It is important to ensure that sufficient budget and funding is available to support a student employee. Your student hire representative may request the chartfield string for the account through which the student employee’s salary will be provided.
The following considerations should be kept in mind when determining a student employee’s work schedule:
- Undergraduate student employees should not be hired to work more than 20 hours per week during academic terms in which they are enrolled and 37.5 hours per week during their off academic term and official school breaks.
- Undergraduate students working multiple jobs may not work more than a combined 40 hours per week across all the jobs.
- The Graduate School recommends that graduate students work no more than 20 hours per week.
- International student employees may not be able to work more than 20 hours per week during the semester as a condition of their immigration status. Visit the International Student Employment Guide for more information.
- Student employees holding federal work-study positions may not work more than 20 hours per week in that position. Visit the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships for more information.
All students must be paid at least the state minimum wage.
Visit the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships to learn more about the program.
Visit the International Student Employment Guide for more information.