The White House proposed steep reductions to the Federal Work‑Study program in its budget outline, putting a decades‑old, bipartisan student support initiative at risk. Work‑study subsidizes campus and community employment for roughly 700,000 students annually and is widely cited as essential to college affordability and persistence. Colleges and student‑aid advocates warn cuts would remove a flexible, early‑career income stream for low‑ and middle‑income students and could force greater reliance on loans or withdrawals. Financial‑aid officers and campus employers are assessing scenarios for scaling student employment and advising students on alternatives if federal support is reduced.