Colleges everywhere have work-study programs where students can work on campus and earn a bit of cash to pay for books, lab fees or whatever else they may need. You might think these programs are helping out lower-income students, but that is not necessarily the case.

According to The Hechinger Report, a lot of the work-study money (which is funded by federal taxpayers) goes to children of better-off families at expensive private universities. Much of this $1 billion in work-study funds goes to these "richer" students instead of students who perhaps need it more.

Approximately one in four work-study students come from families that earn more than $80,000 a year, and almost half of work-study students attend private, nonprofit universities and colleges. However, fewer than half meet the federal definition of financial need.

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