It seems there is incorrect information floating out there about checking free/reduced lunch on FAFSA. If you received free lunch only because everyone in your school was able to get free lunch, you may not necessarily get to check that box. You can only check it if you qualified for it as a means tested benefit (this is based on income guidelines).
See this link: Federal Student Aid . This is the information one sees if they click on the information bubble next to “Free/reduced lunch” on the FAFSA, by the way … so anyone saying otherwise is ignoring the information available to them on the FAFSA form itself.
How would that be different? Let’s think logically. The question asks whether you received federal means tested benefits. Those who do not qualify for free lunch as a federal means tested benefit did not receive a federal means tested benefit.
Yes. The question asks whether anyone in the family received a federal means tested benefit. Then it lists means tested benefits and has a checkbox next to each. I know that people (not you - you are just asking a question) want to find a beneficial loophole, but the fact that the question asks whether the family received a FMTB is clear. If a benefit one received was not actually means tested, they should not check the box.
@kelsmom The question on FAFSA is: Schools and institutions offer free or reduced-price lunches based on household income and guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This doesn’t include free meals that were served to all children at a school during the COVID-19 emergency.
Select the box if anyone in your household received free or reduced-price school lunch in 2022 or 2023.
It does not say “means-tested benefit.”
So what do you say to these…
US Dept of Agriculture: The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it is giving an estimated 3,000 more school districts in high-need areas the option to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost, by expanding the availability of the Community Eligibility Provision, commonly known as CEP.
California Student Aid Commission: “In California, all students at public or charter schools receive free lunch. These families should be checking the free or reduced lunch box on FAFSA.”
California Dept of Education: In School Year (SY) 2022–23, California became the first state to implement a statewide Universal Meals Program for school children. California’s Universal Meals Program (UMP) builds on the foundations of the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). There are three key pillars to ensure the program’s success:
Pillar One: California’s state meal mandate requires local educational agencies (LEA) to make available both a nutritiously adequate breakfast and lunch for, not just needy children, but all children each school day.
Correction: I believe the primary question holds the “means-tested” language and not the Free School Lunch “bubble” that you linked. Also consider…“in 2020 the USDA waived its means-testing requirements, enabling schools to serve free, federally reimbursable meals to all students, no applications needed.”
It IS 100% clear that California Student Aid Commission is saying that "if your students received ‘universal free lunch,’ check the box.
The language has changed over the years, it seems. I have always known it as federal means tested benefits, and that is still in brain from working in financial aid. I maintain that the purpose is to screen for people who are low income, so saying yes if you would not qualify for the program due to financial situation seems like it’s not what is intended. But shame on FSA for not thinking it through and being clearer. The 2024-25 SAI formula references the receipt of means tested benefits, but the language in the FAFSA does not necessarily reflect that. The fact that families with high income can answer the question of free lunch as yes due to universal free lunch allows them to skip assets. Of course, they aren’t going to qualify for Pell, so it might just be that they qualify for a subsidized loan when they otherwise would only qualify for unsubsidized. Schools with lots of money to give who award institutional aid to higher income students are almost always collecting asset information on the Profile.
Another main issue is the number of parents (and school administrators) stating that they have been told in Zoom sessions, in guidance counselor meetings, by state officials (the list goes on and on…) to check YES on the box since their state and/or district provides free lunch to all the students. Others have even said that when they called into FAFSA to ask the question, they were told to check YES.
Assume the Smith family has an AGI of $150,000.
So the Smith family links tax returns via FAFSA and then answers the free lunch question with a YES since they live in Michigan and their son receives free lunch.
Then the questions stop. No questions on cash/savings values, no question on non-retirement account values.
Then the Smith family submits.
What will happen next is the million-dollar question. Will the system eventually reject their submission since their income is clearly over the threshold for free lunches? Will the system just wave them by, thus giving them a benefit over other families who had to provide asset information?
It is really a hot mess and it is affecting tens of thousands of families who have been given very bad advice.
Interesting. I don’t have that note in my FAFSA, which I keep “in progress” so I can check things out. It’s possible that any form already in progress doesn’t update, I suppose.
I don’t know about now…but in the past, if things don’t “align” (income is too high for free/reduced lunch, for example), this is a verification issue…and at this point with all these issues, if I were a betting woman, I’d say the colleges will be the ones to do the verification. During verification, the financial aid department can ask for any documentation they feel they need to do your need based award.
@kelsmom can correct me if I’m wrong…but a family with $150,000 income is unlikely to qualify for the Pell Grant. At the very most, they might get a subsidized portion of their Direct Loan…I would think.
The biggest issue I have with this rollout is this was supposed to be a simplification of the FAFSA, and especially for families who in the past have not done this form who might have benefitted. With the issues you all are posting, I have to wonder how many folks have just thrown in the towel.
Clearly…this isn’t simplified. And folks doing this can’t even rely on past experience themselves or ask their friends or relatives who have done this with older kids…because…it’s different.
I say…shame in the FSA folks for not getting this rollout done on time, with a good beta test first!
I wonder if FA staff will have time to do verifications though? I think they are going to be swamped this entire cycle…giving out FA packages relatively late, people not understanding their FA packages, asking for professional judgment etc.
Separately, people do NOT have to do FAFSA now. Just wait for awhile, there is NO rush. Wait until the kinks are ironed out. None of the college deadlines are hard deadlines…and people can call the FA office if they want to be sure that’s true.
California Student Aid Commission said they checked this “loophole” (yes they actually used that word!) with federal agents. Now, due to public disbelief, they are again trying to reach federal agents to confirm and are not yet retracting their statements. CSAC has posted on this via their social media multiple times.
I saw that but some current policies are separate from Covid. To really make it clear, they should remove the word “receive” and replace it with “qualified due to income” or something along those lines.
That seems to be the word that everyone says, well they just ask if my student received free lunch. And if you are a rule follower, one would check yes, because yes, my student did “receive” free lunches. However, if the sentence included a qualifier of “due to income,” then that would immediately set off a red flag.
People tend to read sentences in a singular fashion rather than referencing previous sentences - especially with something like FAFSA which has some double negative questions.
I have thought about this. If it’s going to impact eligibility for Pell, FSA needs to figure out how to deal with this. If it just impacts eligibility for subsidized loans, that’s not a huge problem. But if I have institutional aid to award, I may want to ask about assets.