College Students are Left Out of Government Benefits Programs Because of Misconceptions of Who They Are — It’s Time to Fix That
When our fellow citizens go hungry, without a home, or lose their income, a social safety net of federal programs steps in to provide support. Through government programs, we support children and families to make sure that they can afford the basic necessities. But due to many misconceptions about the lives of college students, they are too often left out of the vital protections of the social safety net, with crushing results. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 3 in 5 students faced a basic needs insecurity. Of students at two year institutions, 44 percent experienced food insecurity while 36 percent experienced housing insecurity, as documented by the Hope Center’s #RealCollege survey. Yet, students are often not eligible to receive government benefits to help address these pressing needs.
Students are left out due to a mistaken perception that their parents or institutions can cover for them. But the typical student can’t simply rely on their parents or campus resources to make up for their unmet financial needs. For low-income, full-time students, that unmet need can average $7,734. One in four students are parenting, more than 60 percent participate in the workforce, and 34 percent are over the age of 25.
Meeting students’ basic needs is also an effective strategy to increase college completion. Students with basic needs insecurities are significantly more likely to leave college without completing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. This means that students already facing financial struggles are exiting college, likely with debt, and without the ability to grow their careers in the way that they had planned. When students are connected with means-tested benefits they have a better chance of completing their education and following their career aspirations.
And, meeting students’ basic needs — leading to higher completion rates — is good for the country. With college enrollment down, potentially millions of high-skill jobs remaining unfilled, and students questioning the value of a higher education, rules which prevent students from collecting on necessary government benefits is just another reason for someone not to pursue higher learning. Our current workforce development system expects students to spend time on complex training while dealing with unsustainable life situations, removing these barriers would bolster our economy.
One specific area of needed policy change is with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of low-income families and is the largest federal program to help Americans struggling with food insecurity. Normally, college students can’t access SNAP without meeting additional requirements, such as working 20 hours a week or raising a child. However, Congress has temporarily paused the work and child raising requirements for the time period of the COVID-19 emergency making more than three million new students eligible for SNAP. But these benefits are set to go away thirty days after the COVID-19 emergency ends. We need to drop the unnecessary requirements which block college students from collecting on SNAP benefits permanently.
Direct payments from tax benefits are another way that the federal government can provide means-tested benefits directly into student’s hands. These tax benefits have a major impact to alleviate poverty, but those gains can often be reversed from fluctuating eligibility criteria. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has lifted millions of Americans out of poverty — but has historically left out most students. In response to the COVID-19 emergency, Congress authorized the use of the EITC for students who are taking less than half of a full course load. While this is a good first step, the new requirements are confusing and disincentivize students from taking enough classes to progress toward their degree and meet satisfactory academic progress requirements to be eligible for financial aid. Allowing working students to claim the EITC, regardless of how many college credits they are taking, would bring millions of dollars in aid to low-income students to help them afford basic necessities like food and rent.
It’s also important that students are able to collect on benefits for which they are already eligible. The GAO has estimated that two million students who are eligible for SNAP do not apply for and receive those benefits. The federal government should work to integrate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to automatically identify students who are eligible for means-tested programs. There are also many strategies that states and institutions can execute to make sure students are applying for and enrolling in these programs. The U.S. Department of Education recently published a guidance to institutions highlighting effective ways to use their COVID-19 emergency funding to meet student’s basic needs, strategies that institutions and systems can continue to use well after the emergency has passed.
Means-tested benefits are just one piece of the puzzle in addressing the pressing needs of today’s students. New programs, investments, and strategies are worth considering. For example, emergency aid for students, such as that proposed by the recently reintroduced Emergency Grant Aid for College Students Act, would also help stabilize students who fall on hard times. However, Congress — and the country — does not have to wait for broad new initiatives to help today’s students meet their basic needs. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel; we need to make sure that the social safety net which already exists doesn’t leave out the students who need it the most.
