45. Ensure college students have access to public benefits such as SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8, and Medicaid.

Finance 09.6.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • Congress should expand eligibility and access for students with lower incomes to public benefits, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Section 8, and Medicaid.
  • Congress should allow enrollment in higher education to meet work participation, compliance, and activity requirements of public benefits programs. Congress should remove mandates in SNAP and TANF programs that students must combine work with education, meet time restrictions, and enroll in certain degree and certificate programs.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should collect, conduct, and disseminate data on the basic needs of college students, including their access to and usage of public benefits programs such as SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8, and Medicaid.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should include questions in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application on whether students are interested in being contacted about potential benefits eligibility, such as TANF, WIC, SNAP, Section 8, and Medicaid.

Here’s what state government can do:

  • State legislatures should expand eligibility for college students with lower incomes to access public benefits, such as TANF, WIC, SNAP, Section 8, and Medicaid.
    • State legislatures should raise the gross income limit in SNAP and designate college courses as SNAP-eligible under the SNAP Education and Training program.[i]
  • State legislatures should commission human services agencies to report the participation of college students in public benefits programs, such as SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8, and Medicaid.
  • State legislatures should require human services agencies to partner with higher education coordinating agencies to estimate the number of postsecondary students eligible for public benefits programs, such as SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8, and Medicaid.
  • Human services agencies and higher education coordinating agencies should partner to:
    • Simplify the application processes for public benefits programs so that students can more easily apply and qualify.
    • Prioritize outreach strategies to promote, publicize, and inform college students about public benefits programs, such as attending campus fairs and presenting at college orientations.
    • Provide higher education institutions with clearer guidance on public benefits eligibility rules and application process.

Here’s what institutional leaders can do:

  • Each semester higher education institutions should conduct direct outreach to students about their potential benefit eligibility for programs, such as SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8, and Medicaid.
  • Higher education institutions should gather data on the basic needs of students, including their access to supports and use of supports. Higher education institutions should use the data to allocate resources where they are most needed.

Students should feel supported in seeking the public benefits they need to meet their basic needs, remain enrolled, access nutritional foods, and reduce their stress. Yet, in 2018 the Government Accountability Office found that many students and university administrators are misinformed about the rules of student eligibility and whether college students can receive SNAP benefits at all.[i] Education systems and human services agencies have the opportunity to come together to destigmatize the use of public benefits by identifying eligible college students and conducting direct outreach to inform them of the resources available to them. Several states have already leveraged flexibility in SNAP and TANF to better support families, such as Pennsylvania’s Keystone Education Yields Success (KEYS), which focuses on students enrolled at community colleges. The KEYS program is a partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) and the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges. KEYS was developed in response to research showing that TANF participants who earn a certificate or degree can support their families through greater access to sustainable wages and opportunities for career advancement.[i]

[i]

[i]Seldin, Abigail; & Welton, Carrie. “College students are going hungry-states can help,” The Hill. November 21, 2020. https://thehill.com/opinion/education/526989-college-kids-are-going-hungry-states-can-help/#:~:text=Without%20aid%20from%20the%20federal,student%20access%20to%20food%20assistance

[i]“Report to Congressional Requesters; Food Insecurity: Better Information Could Help Eligible College Students Access Federal Food Assistance Benefits,” U.S. Government Accountability Office, December 2018. https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/696254.pdf.

[i] Hall, Randi. “Expanding Education and Training Opportunities Under TANF A Path to Stable Employment in Today’s Economy,” Center for Law and Policy, July 2016. https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/07.201620Expanding20Education20and20Training20Opportunities20under20TANF.pdf.