The Federal Work-Study program was introduced as part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, with the goal of enabling low-income students to work their way through college. It is thus one of the earliest forms of federal financial aid for college, pre-dating both Pell Grants and Stafford Loans. Since its inception, FWS has provided institutions with funds to subsidize up to 75 percent of eligible students' wages (with institutions funding the remainder), encouraging them to employ students in part-time, educationally-relevant jobs. The FWS program has an extensive reach, serving over half a million students each year, including one out of every 10 full-time undergraduates. However the Trump administration's recently-released budget summary seeks to cut program funding by nearly 50 percent, from $990 million to $500 million. In this research note, the author discusses the theory and evidence relating to work-study to answer the question: is the idea of work-study past its prime? Or might the program have a unique and valuable role to play in a modern "college completion and career readiness" agenda? She also argues that two recent trends in higher education provide the program with newfound relevance: (1) an increasing recognition of behavioral and structural barriers to college persistence and completion (not just financial ones), which on-campus employment might help address; and (2) the increasing importance of internships in the post-college job market, in combination with the fact that access to such internships is often unequal by family income.