June 2022
This brief is the first in a series focusing on innovative policies that states have implemented to assist students with their basic needs security. We’re highlighting best practices across the country so that states can build a postsecondary landscape in which students have equitable access to the resources they need to meet their basic needs and succeed in college.
In this brief, we discuss the restrictive eligibility rules of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that discourage students from applying. We describe the eligibility criteria, and detail state-level innovations that are making SNAP more accessible for students facing basic needs insecurity.