By Catherine Brown, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy
Reading time: Five minutes
NCAN submitted the following recommendations to the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture in advance of the Farm Bill reauthorization.
The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) represents more than 650 college access and success organizations across the country, supporting millions of students annually. Our member organizations are largely non-profit organizations working directly
with first generation students, students of color, and those from low-income backgrounds to help them go to and through college. They provide a range of services from one-on-one support in completing college and financial aid applications to helping
students decide on their best postsecondary educational option to coaching and providing scholarships to help them overcome challenges once they have enrolled. As such, they are on the front lines of helping students from low-income backgrounds persevere
in college, and they have unique insight into the barriers students confront as they work to complete a degree.
While many students aspire to attain a postsecondary degree, and the economic security and mobility it affords, students from low-income backgrounds frequently struggle to pay for life and school simultaneously. According to NCAN research, the average student that receives a Pell Grant faces a shortfall of almost $2,400 even after financial aid, student loans, and earned income are applied to the total cost of college. As a result, nearly 40% of students who enter college don’t attain a degree within six years, with community college students and those from low-income backgrounds facing lower completion rates than others. Students who stop or drop out of college
are often saddled with debt they cannot afford to repay because they don’t receive the earnings boost a degree provides. This pattern has long-term repercussions for the students, their families, and the economic vitality of the communities in which
they reside.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has the potential to help address this problem by providing critical monthly support to cover students’ basic needs. Evidence suggests that enrollment in SNAP provides a significant increase in retention rates among students experiencing basic needs insecurity. Unfortunately, the program is not currently working as intended. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on college student food insecurity showed that fewer than half of the 3.3 million students who were potentially eligible for SNAP participated in the program, far less than the 82% participation rate in the general population.
While many colleges and universities have responded to the growing basic needs crisis by connecting students to SNAP benefits, the GAO identified, “helping students understand complicated SNAP rules” as an ongoing need because the process for determining
whether a student is eligible is unnecessarily complicated. By using pre-verified data to identify students who may be eligible, colleges could help provide students with simple pathways to accessing SNAP and help increase college students’ chances
of ultimately achieving a degree or other credential at a time when postsecondary education is needed more than ever to succeed in the labor market.
We recommend the following changes to SNAP to make it easier for eligible students to receive this benefit that is critical to allowing them to preserve and complete a postsecondary degree:
Add the following exemptions for students who also meet income requirements of the SNAP program:
Students with an Expected Family Contribution of $0 as determined by the FAFSA. This provision was put in place on January 16, 2021, and continued throughout
the public health emergency. It allows students with the highest level of financial need, approximately $30,000 in household income, to apply for SNAP.
Students with any dependents under the age of 18. This change would align the parenting exemption for students with that of other SNAP recipients and eliminate the confusing three-tiered parenting rule in place now.
Students who are enrolled in another means-tested benefit or who have an immediate family member enrolled in another means-tested benefit. NCAN research shows that students from the lowest-income households are less likely to complete the FAFSA than their peers. This approach provides a mechanism to capture eligible students who do not fill out the form.
Undergraduate students who are considered independent for the purposes of federal student aid, including veterans, active-duty military personnel, students with a history in the foster care system, and older students. This
category would simplify the recertification process for students and align it with federal financial aid eligibility.
Eliminate the interview requirement for re-certification for students, so long as an individual’s identity is verified and all other mandatory verifications, such as residence and income, are provided. The interview presents a logistical
hurdle for many students who are balancing school, work, and personal responsibilities. Extending the pandemic interview requirement waiver for students who have complete applications would streamline the process and address unique logistical
challenges for students to complete this requirement.
Align the recertification process with the annual financial aid application process. Because many students provide a detailed financial picture to federal and state agencies via the FAFSA, which uses verified tax information from
the IRS, the federal government should waive completion of the six-month verification and use information collected in the FAFSA thereafter to recertify.
Allow students to give consent on the FAFSA for their data to be used for outreach about SNAP. The new FAFSA form, which will launch in December, asks applicants for their consent to retrieve certain verified tax information from
the IRS. Students could also be asked to indicate whether they give consent for their FAFSA data to be shared with the state SNAP agency for the purpose of identifying and conducting outreach to students who may be eligible for SNAP. Once students
consent, college administrators, state and county officials should use the information to conduct proactive outreach to students who are eligible to apply for SNAP because they meet the student eligibility criteria.
Provide dedicated funding to support outreach and application assistance and to make SNAP accessible on college campuses. Understanding the complex eligibility requirements for students is one of the biggest barriers to students receiving
SNAP. College administrators need to work closely with state and/or county officials to understand the requirements, conduct targeted outreach to students who are most likely to qualify and to make it easier for students who are participating
to use their benefits on college campuses. In partnership, the US Departments of Education and Agriculture should provide funding to at least 25 institutions of higher education serving students from low-income communities to encourage on-campus
restaurants and stores to accept EBT cards and to fund on-campus basic needs coordinators to help students access SNAP and other basic needs support.
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