Wisconsin officials intend to make the trip to the grocery store a little easier for higher education students, according to a Wisconsin Department of Health Services press release.
The department is relaxing eligibility for the federal-funded FoodShare program – to include students enrolled at least half-time in a college, university, business, trade, technical or vocational school.
FoodShare is the Wisconsin version of the state-administered, U.S. Agriculture Department-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program is widely known by its earlier name: food stamps.
Students must meet the criteria for participation in the Federal Work-Study program. The program involves thousands of colleges and other higher learning institutions across the United States, according to the U.S. Education Department website.
Students must also have an expected family contribution of $0, meaning they are eligible for the maximum amount of Federal Student Aid. The amount of a family contribution is determined by completing the Free Federal Student Aid application for the current year.
FoodShare provides up to $234 per for individual households, $430 for a household of two, $616 for a household of three, and $782 for a household of four.
For example, to receive the maximum monthly allotment of $782, a family of four could not have more pre-tax income than $4,368 per month, or $52,416 per year, according to figures on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website.
The maximum allotment itself has been increased by 15 percent due to the federal COVID-19 stimulus.
Also, other restrictions for the program have been relaxed as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
