Many college students facing a tough economy and rising tuition costs are not aware they have the option to turn to food stamps to relieve some of their financial burdens, officials said.
About 1,800 Massachusetts college students are enrolled in the state food stamp program, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Advocates said thousands more are unaware that they are eligible.
Shatilla Shera DeLeon, a legal assistant with Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a Boston nonprofit that promotes social and economic justice, said it is unusual to expect students to be able to afford expensive tuition and living costs.
‘How can students pay for other basic necessities if they can’t even pay for tuition alone?’ DeLeon said. ‘They are really struggling now.’
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Federal Food Stamp Program, is administered by the DTA within Massachusetts. Eligibility depends on the number of people in a household and a person’s monthly income.
Federal rules require full-time college students to participate in a federal or state work-study program to be eligible to apply for food stamps. DeLeon said most of the 40,000 students who receive some form of financial aid are not aware of their potential eligibility.
‘It’s an untapped resource that students don’t know about, and, unfortunately, some people still have the stereotype that students don’t deserve food stamps,’ DeLeon said.
DeLeon said because food stamps are a federally funded program, those who qualify will never be denied assistance, despite the increased number of applications.
‘If you are a full-time student, working a crazy amount of hours to pay for your rent, why not get some help from the government to buy groceries so you can use your money to buy something more important,’ DeLeon said.
Besides those who receive work-study, disabled students or students who work 20 hours or more may also be eligible, according to the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. Those who live on-campus and get more than half their meals from a meal plan are not eligible.
One in 11 Massachusetts residents currently receive food stamps, DTA Executive Office of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Kristina Barry said. In the past year the number of requests for food stamps has risen by 20 percent due to the poor economic situation.
‘Although our caseloads have grown dramatically, we’ve made many improvements to streamline the application process,’ Barry said. ‘We encourage anyone having trouble meeting his or her basic needs to apply for SNAP.’
DTA does not keep a number of college students on file who may be at risk for food stamp need, Barry said. Local hunger relief organizations said DTA often only tracks the number of children, seniors and the disabled who may have difficulty affording food, leaving college students who cannot pay for basic necessities a hidden population.
Boston University spokesman Colin Riley said BU cannot keep track of all off-campus students who may be struggling financially.
‘We treat students as individuals, and each student will need to present himself to the Office of Financial Assistance,’ Riley said. ‘We can’t help anyone if they don’t communicate with us. Of course, the university has limited sources, so we can’t guarantee that we are able to help everyone, but we definitely want to try.’