All work-study earnings are subject to federal and state taxes. To determine if you should elect to have taxes withheld from your paychecks, we encourage you to speak with your parents or a tax professional. Payroll Services and HR are unable to provide guidance on tax withholding options.
The Office of Financial Aid is also unable to provide guidance on whether or not you should file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Services (IRS). However, you can reference IRS Publication 501, which outlines filing requirements for dependents (reference Table 2) and non-dependents (reference Table 1).
W-2 Forms
At the end of the calendar year, Pitzer will issue you a W-2 form for your earnings. It is important that you retain a copy of this and any other W-2 forms you are issued, as you will be required to provide them as part of your financial aid application in future years.
For example, if you earned any income from January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019, you will be given a 2019 W-2, which you will be required to submit as part of your 2021-2022 financial aid application. See chart below:
Calendar Year |
Financial Aid Application Cycle |
2018 |
2020-2021 |
2019 |
2021-2022 |
2020 |
2022-2023 |
2021 |
2023-2024 |
The Office of Human Resources will issue 2019 W-2s by January 31, 2020. If you have misplaced a W-2 from a previous year, please reach out to HR. The Office of Financial Aid cannot access or obtain a copy of your Pitzer W-2.
Impact to Aid Eligibility
Students are required to report all earnings (work-study and non-work-study) on their financial aid application and to the IRS (if filing a tax return).
When determining financial aid, work-study earnings are protected and essentially do not impact the family contribution. Depending on the total amount of income earned, earnings outside of the work-study program may impact your financial aid eligibility. For most students, if their total income/earnings is less than $6,000, there is usually no impact to aid eligibility.