Career and Student Employment Services

Campus Employment

Western employs approximately 2,800 student employees during fall and spring semesters in nearly every division on campus. More than a paycheck, student employment is an avenue for Experience-Driven Learning.

— https://wmich.edu/news/news/2025/04/student-employee-appreciation-week-2025

Students: find an on-campus job

Supervisors: how to hire student employees + view upcoming trainings

Direct questions about student employment to studentemployment@wmich.edu. A member of our team will respond as quickly as possible.

Student employment requirements

Student employment is ancillary to a student’s primary role as an enrolled student. Hourly student employees are not eligible for fringe benefits. Federal regulations require systematic tracking of hours worked by student employees (Fair Labor Standards Act, IRS taxation and the Affordable Care Act).
Departments are responsible to monitor their own student employee hours using a Student Employment Eligibility Form for each student employee.
The University employs WMU degree seeking students who are a minimum age of 18 or older. The exception are degree seeking students who are 17 years old and will turn 18 during their first semester of enrollment.
Coordinate the pay rate with the student employee pay rate model. Pay rates must be assigned based on the position and skills necessary to complete assigned tasks.
Pay rates must be established before posting the job and hiring for the position. Review the WMU Student Financial Aid website for more details.

Sick leave for student employees

Student employees earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they are paid.

Student employees can use their earned sick leave for a variety of purposes.

View full policy details on the WMU Human Resources website.

Work hours: Enrolled students, all semesters

Please refer to the Work Hours Guidelines for WMU Student Employees guide.

Select this link for a Word document version of the Work Hours Guidelines for WMU Student Employees guide.

Work hours: Summer semesters, semester breaks, non-enrolled students

Please refer to the Work Hours Guidelines for WMU Student Employees guide.

Select this link for a Word document version of the Work Hours Guidelines for WMU Student Employees guide.

Breaks

Under University policy, non-exempt (hourly paid) employees are entitled to take breaks as outlined below. Breaks are not cumulative.

One 15-minute break for each four hours worked.
Two 15-minute breaks in a day when working six or more hours, with one break during the 1st half of the workday and one during the 2nd half of the workday.
One lunch period during regular University hours. Lunch schedules may vary by department and can be adjusted to meet departmental needs. A lunch period of 30 minutes or more is non-paid time. Lunch period is optional, not a requirement.

Federal Work Study

College work-study is a need-based financial aid program funded by the federal government and Western Michigan University. It is awarded to students based on need who are enrolled at least half time during the period of their employment. Unlike grants and scholarships, work-study awards are earned and paid through the payroll process in the form of a bi-weekly pay. Work-study awards and amounts are subject to eligibility requirements and fund availability.

Students with a work-study award are subject to the same employment definitions and expectations as other student employees.

Visit the Federal Work Study page for more information.

Last day of work for graduating international students

Graduating international students can work until the end date on their Form 1-20, which is typically the "Semester ends" date listed on the Registrar's official academic calendar.
View the Registrar's academic calendar here.
The exception to this rule is if the international student is graduating AND is enrolled in a new program at WMU for the next semester. In this instance, they may continue working.

Employment verifications: email or fax the verification to us. We are unable to provide employment verification over the phone, and we do require a signed release of information (electronic is acceptable). Email: studentemployment@wmich.edu | Fax: (269) 387-2555. Contact us by phone at (269) 387-6280 with questions.

Student Employment Annual Report 2025-26

At Western Michigan University, 2,248 student employees worked in 3,385 positions during the 2025-26 academic year. For the purposes of this report, "student employee" exclude students from contracted graduate assistantships.

Student employees represented 15.3% of the total WMU student population of 14,681 in 2025-26, compared to 15.8% (2,626 of 16,617) in 2024-25. On average, each student employee held 1.51 concurrent jobs.

The continued strategic focus for 2025-26 remains aligning student employment as Experience-Driven Learning. Primary efforts include partnering with departments to elevate on-campus positions into meaningful experiences and delivering leadership development to supervisors of student employees to increase their capacity to support student growth and professional readiness.

Average wages increased compared to prior periods, with an overall average of $15.30 per student and $14.82 per job. Domestic student employees earned a slightly higher average wage ($14.82) than international student employees ($14.72).

Students who had at least one appointment as a student employee in any department or office during their first year had a 75.6% six-year graduation rate, according to Institutional Research data that tracks six-year graduation rates for specific subpopulations of students.

Read the full WMU Student Employment Annual Report 2025-26 at this link (link opens a Word document).

For additional information about this report, including its scope and methods, please refer to the appendix. Please direct questions and requests for additional information to Student Employment Services at StudentEmployment@wmich.edu.