Student Compensation
Student Hourly - Hiring Range
The current KU minimum wage for student hourly appointments is $10.25 per hour. Any future increases to the student hourly minimum rate will become effective on the first pay period in August. Units may pay student hourlies up to $20.00 per hour with department approval. Rates of $20.01 or higher require advanced approval from Human Resources (HR) by submitting the Student Hourly Special Rate Request form to employ@ku.edu.
Biannual Termination of Inactive Student Hourly Employees
In 2025, KU will begin utilizing a centralized process for terminating inactive student hourly employees (i.e. student hourly employees who have not reported hours within 3 pay periods of the end of each semester).
How does it Work?
- Upon payroll calculation of the third pay period after Fall and Spring STOP DAYs, student hourly employees that have not reported hours since STOP DAY will be terminated.
Important Points to Remember:
- This is a centrally managed process based on HR/Pay timeclock data.
- The listing of students terminated in June via this process will be the basis for the Fall Rehire process outlined on this webpage.
- To rehire a student inactivated after winter break or otherwise not included on the Spring termination list, reach out to the HR Recruitment Team to process an individual direct hire.
2025 Student Hourly Termination Process timeline
| Academic Term Ending | Inactive period | Termination Effective Date |
| Fall 2024 | 12/13/24-2/1/25 | 2/2/25 |
| Spring 2025 | 5/9/25-6/21/25 | 6/22/25 |
Fall Student Hourly Rehire Data Collection and Load
KU utilizes a “Fall Rehire” load process to rehire student hourly employees who were centrally terminated after the Spring semester and will return to the same position for the Fall semester.
How does it Work?
- The HR Recruitment team will provide unit contacts a spreadsheet/list of students that were centrally terminated after the previous Spring semester.
- The unit/supervisor will identify student(s) on the list needing to be rehired for the upcoming Fall semester by adding the information to the spreadsheet following the instructions provided.
- If a returning student hourly employee is to receive an increase for the Fall semester, the new rate must be indicated on the spreadsheet.
When is the Student Rehire Process Available to Units?
- Late July or early August, the HR Recruitment team will reach out to units with the list of students terminated after last Spring.
- Student Hourly rehires may be made effective the beginning of the first August pay period through the first week of September.
Biannual Student Hourly Increase Cycles
Student hourly employees may be eligible for an increase due to performance, longevity, acquisition of new credentials, cost of living, etc. All increases must be recommended by the supervisor, funded, and approved by the unit hierarchy in advance for a future effective date and not be retroactive.
KU utilizes a standardized process for units to request increases for student hourly employees active in the HR/Pay system. Rate increases for student hourly employees will be processed only two times a year, with a standardized effective date at the beginning of each semester (Fall and Spring).
How does it Work?
- HR will communicate with units in advance of each deadline via Budget Officers, HR Newsletter, Campus Insider, HRIS-L, Supervisors DL, etc.
- Units and supervisors wanting to give raises will be required to compile and return their raise requests to the Transactions Team by the posted deadline using a standard report format.
- Standard report instructions below. OAC access required; those without OAC access should reach out to their Budget Officer or to the Transactions Team.
Important Points to Remember:
- Increases may not be retroactive.
- Rate increases are not required by HR unless a rate is lower than state or federal minimum wage requirements or university policy/guidelines.
- Increase requests received after the deadline will be required to wait until the next increase period to be applied.
- Supervisors are to adhere to the University increase timeframe model and are not to make commitments outside of the stated deadlines unless they have been pre-approved by HR.
- Units, Dean’s, or Vice Provost offices may have additional eligibility requirements and earlier deadlines for student hourly increases. Please contact your area hierarchy for details.
2024-2025 Student Hourly Increase Process Deadlines
| Academic Term | Communication Period | Due Date to HR | Rate Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2025 | mid-November through December | 1/10/25 | 2/2/25 |
| Fall 2025 | late-June through mid-July | 7/10/25 | 8/3/25 |
Using this OAC-HR bookmark link
Add the parameters based on the ARSP/Department that you are covering then Apply
Under Page Criteria change the As of Date to be "is less than or equal to" and put in the effective date of the current semester increase. e.g. 2/2/2025 then Apply
Do not change the order of the columns and do not change any other data that is extracted. This is critical for the success of the data load back to HR/Pay.
Extract the report by selecting Export>Formatted>Excel
You are to add one column at the far right entitled “New Comp Rate” to the report.
Requests must be submitted following this format.