The New School

Responsibilities:

The First-Gen College Access Project at the Center for New York City Affairs is seeking an enthusiastic designer with web skills and an interest in participatory design and/or UX research and testing. You will be part of a student team helping to refine and build out a new website at UnderstandingFAFSA.org. The website and a twice-monthly email newsletter are focused on helping first-generation students and college access counselors understand and navigate our nation’s complicated and confusing financial aid process. We will be working with high school students and college access counselors to design, craft, and test materials with the goal of making college financial aid easy to understand and less intimidating. 

This is an ideal position for a student who is interested in taking on a design challenge that affects millions of students who struggle with the FAFSA and the financial aid process every year. We hope to work with behavioral design, UX and participatory design experts to create financial aid curriculum, FAFSA tools and explanatory blog posts for a wide variety of first-generation college students and their families. We plan to research and publish new blog posts and materials every other week with aggressive promotion via our newsletter and social media. 

This work-study position is for 10-20 hours per week with flexibility around the semester schedule. All work and meetings can be done remotely, though we hope to organize an in-person team meeting twice a month. This is a federal work-study position with the possibility of evolving into a permanent student position.. 

The New School is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and particularly seeks applications from members of underrepresented groups, as well as candidates who share this commitment. We are particularly interested in hearing from students who are among the first in their family to go to college. Your perspectives will be invaluable to this project. 

Responsibilities include: 

• Assist Project Director and team in developing new content and curriculum for the website, including research and writing of short “how-to” blogs and tools for students, families, and educators. 
• Assist Project Director and team in developing and executing a plan to improve the current design of the website employing research from user interviews and UX testing. 
• Assist Project Director in reaching out to college access counselors, financial aid counselors and educators to determine what gaps exist in counseling materials designed to make the FAFSA and financial aid process easy to understand. 
• Work with these audiences to develop new publications or products to make financial aid easier to understand and more accessible in high school and college. Help lead the team to create, launch and promote these products on the website. 

Work Mode: Hybrid

Compensation $17 – $21/hr

Required Documents 

Resume/CV

Cover Letter 

Portfolio or work samples 

Federal work study letter 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Experience in graphic design, web design, social media or video production 
• Experience in or passion for participatory design, behavioral economics or UX 
• Experience or interest in audience research, user driven-design refinement and search engine optimization
• Attention to detail and excellent organizational skills
• Full-time New School student with a work-study award (ask the financial aid office if you have a work-study award; many students are unaware of this financial aid benefit) 

Preferred Qualifications: Job Family: Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy