Student Employee Payroll

Student Faculty, Student Hourly & Student Work-Study

Student employees can work in a variety of positions within the university.

Most graduate students and student faculty members are paid a monthly salary on the last banking day of the month. Most undergraduate student employees are paid hourly on a biweekly basis. Work Study students are paid by the hour on a biweekly basis. Please refer to the pay dates tab above for paydays, and check with your department payroll liaison for pay cycle options.

Per IRS rules, student employees in higher education are exempt from paying into social security. Student employees who work for the same university they attend are exempt from paying Student Retirement and Medicare when they are enrolled in a minimum course load and work fewer than 40 hours per week.  Please refer to the student retirement page for more information.

Student employees must document time worked. CU has multiple options for documenting time and leave; please verify with your department on the proper procedures to document your time. Both the employee and his/her supervisor must sign the record verifying the accuracy of reported hours.

Related Information

When leaving employment, please update your address through the employee portal to ensure you receive your W-2 at the end of the tax year. Correcting information in the student portal will not update your employee information.  

• For specific immigration issues, please contact the appropriate campus international student and scholar office:
  • CU Boulder
  • CU Colorado Springs
  • CU Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus
• For I-9 information, please contact the appropriate campus human resources office.

Payroll Forms for Student Employees