SNAP Benefits Update: Can Students Also Get Food Stamp Payments?

To qualify for SNAP benefits payments, interested individuals and households must meet the eligibility requirement for the payments.

Applicants send their applications to their state agency or local SNAP office. They will then process it and send you a notice telling you whether or not you are eligible within 30 days.

The eligibility of an individual or household is determined based on its gross monthly income, net income, and assets.

For those without a member age 60 or older, assets should be at $2,750 or less. The same asset amount applies to those who do not have a household member with a disability.

Meanwhile, families with such members must have assets of $4,250 or less.

Applicants might be asked to provide verification of the information they provided and will have to complete an eligibility interview during the 30 days of waiting.

You are a member of a SNAP household if you live together, purchase, and prepare meals together.

Some people who live together such as spouses and children under age 22 are included in the SNAP household.

Meanwhile, SNAP benefits for students have different eligibility requirements.

SNAP Benefits for Students

As a general rule, students attending an institution of higher education such as college, university, and trade/technical school more than half-time are not eligible for SNAP unless they meet an exemption.

The institution of higher education determines what is considered to be a "half-time" enrollment, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The exemptions that are imposed on students meeting SNAP eligibility requirements include being age 18 or age 50 or older.

The students applying for SNAP benefits must have a physical or mental disability; work at least 20 hours a week in paid employment, and participate in a state or federally-financed work-study program.

To qualify and to be exempted, they should also be participating in an on-the-job training program; participate in an on-the-job training program; care for a child under the age of six, and a single parent enrolled full-time in college and taking care of a child under 12.

They should also be receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and be assigned to a college through a SNAP training program or other job programs.

SNAP benefits for students do not apply to individuals attending college less than half-time, which is determined by schools.

In addition, the exemption will not also be applied to you if individuals who are in a program do not require a high school diploma.

SNAP Benefits Payments

On the other hand, SNAP recipients can look forward to another payment in November as it marks the second straight month, which includes the 12.5% cost-of-living adjustment approved for the fiscal year 2023.

The COLA started on Oct. 1, 2022, and will continue until Sept. 30, 2023, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

SNAP benefits can be used in grocery stores and major retailers across the country. Payments are distributed through Electronic Benefits Transfer cards, with recipients needing to enter a PIN to complete their transaction.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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