The Latest in College Financial Aid: Food Stamps
Even ramen, delivery pizza, and Easy Mac can add up, which is why some college students are applying for food stamps. Despite the 26-page application, it's probably worth the time—and skipping the philosophy reading—if it means eating tomorrow.
With 23,000 Denver residents receiving food stamp benefits, about 4,223 (18 percent) of them are students, according to the Denver Post. The qualifications can differ from state to state, but here's the government's fact sheet on food stamps.
The nation's economic downturn is affecting all ages, even the young ones supposedly safe inside dorms.
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8 Comments:
wow, that is a telling sign of extreme financial distress and duress.
Ed Levine at 4:09PM on 10/27/08
...why didn't I think of that?
peachypear at 4:13PM on 10/27/08
I'm about to apply for food stamps. (sent from a bus stop outside a Grocery Outlet)
sailordave at 6:40PM on 10/27/08
Wow, what is this country coming to???
Ranton at 7:45PM on 10/27/08
I know kids who have done this. It's tough to get through college nowadays.
As a college student, I'm fortunate enough to have everything--tuition, apartment, food, etc--paid for (out of parent's pocket, sans student loans). I never worried about money the first two years of school, but even now, I've become a lot more frugal in my spending and careful with my credit cards (switching from Wegman's to Giant or Weis, organic to conventional, driving one or two times a week, and drinking cheaper alcohol). I have learned to budget, and pay attention to price tags. I think this is a very real wake up call--one I especially needed.
The money crunch truly does affect us all--even us, the student who believed we were impervious to the real world while in our bubbles of college.
sweethunibabi at 10:01PM on 10/27/08
Funny, I got food stamps in college (a million years ago in the early '90s) and I never really thought much about it. $112/month went pretty far 15 years ago in the NW. I bought all sorts of expensive-ish items that normally would've been beyond the budget of a 19-year-old with a part-time job.
Krista at 10:28PM on 10/27/08
I was on food stamps when I went to school in 2000. When you're paying with student loans and can only have time to work a less-than-full-time job, it helps a lot! Plus, if you look at the statistics for many counties in the US, food stamp programs are almost always under-utilized.
dwagner at 3:49AM on 10/28/08
I have a friend in undergraduate school who is an independent student - no parental help whatsoever. I took her to the local DHHR office, and they said that she wasn't eligible for any help (not food stamps, not a medical card, nada) because she was a college student.
OSTAFF1 at 5:45PM on 10/28/08