This section explains who is considered a student for the Basic Food program, which students are eligible for Basic Food, and when student status begins and ends.
An applicant or recipient who is enrolled and taking at least six credits (half time) in an institution of higher education is ineligible to receive Basic Food unless they meet one of the exemptions described in this section.
An institution of higher education includes:
Business, technical, trade, or vocational school that normally requires a high school diploma or equivalency certificate for enrollment;
A college or university that offers degree programs regardless of whether a high school diploma is required;
Online schools (for example: University of Phoenix); and
Correspondence schools as long as the entry criteria or degree program characteristics are met and the student is considered attending at least half time.
All Washington state public universities, technical, and community colleges consider 6 credits to be half time. If someone is attending a private college or university, half time status must be verified with the school.
A student isn't considered enrolled in an institution of higher education if they attend only for the purpose of participating in one of the following programs:
EXAMPLE:
Kurt attends a technical college that offers both a two-year degree program and a one-year certificate program. The degree program requires a high school diploma or GED for enrollment, while the certificate program has no such requirements. Kurt is enrolled in the one-year certificate program curriculum. Since the certificate-only program that he's enrolled in doesn't require a diploma or GED, Kurt isn't considered to be enrolled in an institution of higher education. Therefore, Kurt doesn't have to meet student eligibility requirements for Basic Food.
Student status ends when the student:
Employed students meet the eligibility criteria when they work at least 80 hours each month or average 20 hours per week. It is not necessary that they work 20 hours each week.
Self-employed students meet the eligibility criteria when they:
To be considered an eligible student based on need to provide care for a dependent member of the AU, the client must be responsible for more than half of the care.
Because of this, one child can't make more than one student eligible for Basic Food. See Worker Responsibilities below for recommended interview questions and documentation requirements for allowing student eligibility based on dependent care responsibilities when both parents live in the household.
Income-in-kind isn't considered payment for work and can't be used to establish hours of workweek.
EXAMPLE
Melanie works for the college during her summer break. Instead of paying her wages, the school deducts the income from her fall tuition costs. We can't use the value of the work or the hours worked when we determine if she is an eligible student.
For the work study exemption the student must be both:
If a work study job isn’t available or hasn’t begun, the student is still eligible for the exemption until they notify us they refused a work study job.
NOTE:
If a client is determined to be an ineligible student as they meet no exemption during the Basic Food interview, deny the application. Don't pend the application to allow them time to begin meeting an exemption. If the client wants to qualify for Basic Food through meeting student eligibility, they must reapply after their circumstance changes.
Example: Patrick is a student of higher education and applies for Basic Food. During the interview, he discloses he has a job interview, but hasn’t been hired. Patrick meets no other exemptions. Don't pend his application for the results of the job interview. He can reapply once he meets the 20 hours a week average if he is hired or if he meets another exemption.
If a client attends school, determine if they meet the definition of “student” for Basic Food before looking at whether or not they are an eligible student. We don’t consider someone to be a student if they are:
If a client claims to be physically or mentally unable to work and their statement is questionable, verify the claim by:
EXAMPLE:
A student and her spouse have a 4 year old child. The non-student parent isn't employed but is actively looking for work. The student parent cares for the child about 60% of the time. In this case the worker documents that since the non-student parent is actively looking for work by filing job applications and attending interviews the student parent needs to care for the child more than half the time to allow for the other parent’s job search activities. The student is eligible for Basic Food.
Student income must be evaluated and verified for all students, even if the student doesn't have to meet student eligibility criteria.
Mark is a student at Western Washington University, attending half-time. He is 53 years old and doesn't have to meet student eligibility requirements. You must determine if he receives any countable or exempt student income.
Unearned:
Payments for the educational assistance of an AU member enrolled at a recognized institution of post-secondary education, school for the handicapped, vocational program or a program that provides for completion of a secondary school diploma or GED.
Work study program wages are earnings from a program operated by a post-secondary school in which the student works and earns money during the year. Federally funded work study is non-countable income, whereas state-funded work study is countable income.
Income-in-kind isn't considered payment for work and can't be used to establish hours of work week.
All educational income excluded under WAC 388-450-0035 is excluded and not counted in the eligibility or benefit determination. This includes, but isn't limited to:
Some of the educational assistance sources named above (except funding from Title IV HEA and BIA education assistance) will have funds not used for attendance costs that must be counted as unearned income. Make sure you refer back to WAC 388-450-0035 for specific rules about when you can exclude the entire educational assistance amount.
Subtract all attendance costs allowed in sub-sections (2) (a) and (b) of WAC 388-450-0035 from the student's educational assistance. Budget the amount left as unearned income to the AU. Average this income over the period of time the VA states the assistance covers.
Exclusions apply only to monies from an educational source and not to educational payments made from income available to the AU such as earnings, contributions from parents, TANF, etc. All educational assistance income must be verified.
See WAC 388-450-0035 to determine how a client’s educational income may impact their benefits.
Educational income isn't counted as a resource during the period of time the income is expected to cover (usually the school term).
Jake received a GSL of $5,000 for the school term of September 1 through May 24. He put the money into a savings account to use as needed during the school months. The $5,000 is excluded as a resource until it is no longer considered income (May 25).
Document in a case record how you determined that a student was eligible for Basic Food along with how you verified that the student is eligible for benefits. The verification may be obtained from the student, source, or school. Examples of verification are: