Jul 29, 2014 04:15 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Work-study students are more likely to graduate and be employed six years after completing college than their counterparts who don't participate in the federal program, according to a recent study Inside Higher Ed reported.

Work-study programs are one of the largest types of targeted employment subsidies funded by the federal government, and are also one of the oldest policy mechanisms intended to promote college access and persistence for low-income students.

For the study, researchers examined the impact of work-study jobs on students' academic and future employment outcomes compared to students with non-work-study jobs and those who are not working at all.

Researchers from Columbia University found that  participants in the work-study program were 5.2 percentage points more likely than similar working to students to earn a bachelor's degree within six years, but the difference was only 1.4 percentage points and not significant when these students were compared against non-working students.

They also found that work-study students were 3.7 percentage points more likely than similar non-working students to be employed after six years, but the difference was an insignificant 1.4 percentage points when FWS students were compared against similar working students.

Based on the findings, the positive effects of the work-study program were magnified for students with lower-income and those with lower SAT scores when compared with their wealthier, higher-scoring peers.

The researchers suggest that the effectiveness of the federal program "might be increased by modifying the allocation formula -- which currently provides disproportionate support to students at elite private institutions -- to better target lower-income and lower-scoring students."

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