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Earlier this year, the Biden administration urged Colleges and universities were asked to help the nation’s K-12 schools. Specifically, postsecondary institutions were asked to use at least 15% of their roughly $1.2 billion annual allocation from the Federal Work-Study Program to hire more college students as tutors, mentors and student success coaches in public schools.

The White House included the call to action in its agenda to accelerate K-12 academic achievement following school closures during the pandemic, but for higher education, this announcement should increase the urgency to rethink the link between education and employment.

Through the Federal Work-Study Program, low- and middle-income students receive part-time employment from their colleges to help cover their education costs. These funds must be used more effectively to improve students’ job prospects and provide them with high-quality work-based learning experiences.

For college students considering careers in education, public policy, social work, or humanitarian work, working in our nation’s public schools not only benefits the students they teach, but also provides them with the experience they need – the definition of a quality “learn and earn” program.

However, most students do not receive a high-quality, career-enhancing opportunity to combine work and study while studying. Still, almost two thirds of students work during their studies. A quarter of students from low-income families have Full-time jobs — which is worrying, as long working hours correlated with lower grades, fewer credits earned and a higher probability of dropping out.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, simply working to pay the bills while in college often does little to prepare students for the job opportunities that policymakers and higher education leaders envision.

The reason? Too many of today’s learners have jobs that have nothing to do with their studies and their future careers. It’s time to rethink colleges’ attitudes toward work-based learning and how federal money should be spent.

Consider which students work and why. Students from wealthier backgrounds may choose paid and unpaid opportunities while studying to gain valuable skills, knowledge and contacts.

Yet financially disadvantaged students often have to work to pay rent, buy groceries, and cover tuition fees. These students often work longer hours in jobs that offer little flexibility in scheduling, limiting their ability to focus on their education or future careers.

Research by Strada shows that first-generation college graduates are more likely to work longer and less likely to secure career-enhancing, work-related learning opportunities such as internships than their peers.

Meanwhile, expectations and reality are diverging. Seventy percent of new students expect Work-related learning experiences – such as internships, collaborations, practical experience, teacher training courses or clinical internships – during your studies. However, less than half of the students (48%) say they had such experiences in their final year of study.

Working students—who disproportionately include blacks, Latinos, and women—are not only denied career opportunities, many of them do not even graduate. Only 22% of working learners from low-income families obtain a bachelor’s degree within six years of starting their studies.

Ironically, higher education has long had a mechanism to give more students access to work-based learning: the Federal Work-Study Program.

In 2016, researchers at Teachers College, Columbia University found that students who participated in the Federal Work-Study program were more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree and find employment after graduation.

At the same time, these jobs hardly promote the career goals of the students. More than 90% of federal funds for the work and study program On-campus support jobs – positions that are often located in college administrative offices and offer little career or development opportunities.

In recent years, policymakers have sought to expand the scope of the Federal Work-Study program.