DeKALB | Marta Burnett works about 20 hours a week at the Huskie Telefund.

The sophomore public health major makes about $350 a month at her job and would normally qualify for $1,350 a year in work-study awards.

Unfortunately for Burnett, the Huskie Telefund is one of the hundreds of university jobs that doesn’t offer work-study to their employees.

More than 700 students qualify for work-study aid, according to Kathleen Brunson, director of the Financial Aid Office, but only 480-550 positions are available yearly, said Steve Cunningham, associate vice president for Administration and Human Resources.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, federal work-study funds decreased $9.9 million nationwide this academic year from $980.4 million last year.

“We would like to see more federal funding,” said Brent Gage, assistant vice provost for Enrollment Services.

Gage said the upcoming increase in minimum wage would minimize the amount of hours and awards. Faculty members are evaluating the budget to minimize these adverse effects, said Gage.

Although the work-study program allows colleges to pay their students the federal minimum wage – $5.15 – most institutions decide to follow the state minimum wage instead.

Work-study amounts have remained fairly constant, Gage said.

“We typically fill all available work-study positions,” Cunningham said.

A list of work-study jobs can be found on the Human Resources Web site, www.hr.niu.edu.