<p>Sounds like they are getting closer to the criteria that Washington uses.
So if you are a student & have a job of at least 20 hrs a week you can get stamps.
But if you can’t find a job/don’t have transportation to get to one, even if public transportation has been cut in your area, well no food stamps for you.</p>
<p>Michigans unemployment rate is 10.5%, where exactly are students supposed to find jobs that they can fit in around going to school? Is it really in Michigans best interest to force students to make the choice between going to school and working so they can eat?</p>
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<p>At the risk of sounding harsh,…yes.</p>
<p>You have to remember, a college education is a privilege, not a right.</p>
<p>At the risk of sounding harsh,…yes.</p>
<p>Maybe in the short term, but hard to argue for the long term.</p>
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<p>I do not understand why this student is receiving food stamps. I don’t think that the concept behind her receiving food stamps is for her and her father to share the food stamps. </p>
<p>If that is the case, then eligibility should be determined on whether or not the family as a whole, not the student (alone) is eligible for food stamps. I could see how this can lead to double dipping (the family receives food stamps and the student receives food stamps independently from the family). </p>
<p>Is the student using her paernts income and assets to determine eligibility for financial aid? </p>
<p>Is dad claiming his daughter as a dependent for tax purposes?If a student is dependent for financial aid purposes, then iti only right that the family income be considered for food stamps.</p>
<p>there has to be a system of checks and balances that cross references all of this information</p>
<p>If college students are generally ineligible for food stamps in the other 49 states (which the article seems to say) then Michigan revising the rules to be more consistent with national norms doesn’t seem unreasonable.</p>
<p>Heard about that little national debt problem? It all starts with 1000’s of nice programs.</p>
<p>I can’t help feel like a grinch though when I read about how much money we are sending to Somalia . I wonder how much of it will get to where it is really needed?</p>
<p>I don’t think people are supposed to be “sharing” food stamps. </p>
<p>If you need money to feed yourself, you move to an area where there are jobs…you put your education on hold.</p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with states being uniform in administration of food stamps, but I read the Kayla Neff story as she was a dependent and she & her father got $150 of food stamps as a household.
I do not see how the former mayor received foodstamps as both of his parents had good jobs at the time, but perhaps he lied? It’s not like he is known for his ethics.</p>
<p>I absolutely hate this and the students who ruined it for the rest of us who actually NEED it.</p>
<p>I had to quit my jobs that aren’t on-campus (they were over an hour away) because I nearly died last year in an ice storm trying to get back to campus after a job. Now, I just found a job after applying to probably 30 or so and I get 18 hours a week because that is all I can get without going over my work-study amount (I’ve gotten about 3 interviews and they’ve all been fork work study jobs… no one else is hiring). The state of Michigan provides no help to their students and they cut their only scholarship. I am taking the minimum credits I can (13… there was no way to get it down to 12) and am still struggling to make ends meet with a limited hours job and no family help. </p>
<p>Also, if I can’t get a job, I don’t see who can. I have been consistently working since I was about 14, at least one job. I’ve never been fired or been reprimanded. I have bosses who love me and I have a 3.8+ GPA. I’m sorry that tuition is nearly $450 a credit hour at a PUBLIC school, but don’t cut what little aid we have left. </p>
<p>Also, my parents don’t qualify because even though my dad has been basically unemployed since an accident left him unable to work (he now works as a part-time crossing guard because that’s about all he can do) and my mom makes less than $25k a year (which is new since most of my life, we were under poverty), my dad’s social security checks put us over whatever income limit they have. However, almost all of that money goes towards hospital bills. It’s just so irritating.</p>
<p>Reform needed to happen- but NOT this.</p>
<p>About 10% of the US population is receiving food assistance (which is usually through a ATM card). I believe in some areas, if someone is already receiving public assistance, they are allowed to keep their food stamps if they then agree to attend school full-time in a government-sponsored program. However, if they make it too easy for young existing college students to get food assistance, it would bankrupt the program.</p>
<p>There are govt programs that do not make sense. There are Govt programs that do make sense. Supporting students is a program that to me makes absolute sense and I will happily pay more taxes to support it. I think taxes are too low in this country. In the mean time I will keep sending donations and campaign contributions to the right groups so that we have a proper social safety net.</p>
<p>The United States government borrows 40 cents of every dollar it spends.</p>
<p>In case you don’t read the news, the US is going to hell in a handbasket, because all of the wasteful spending.</p>
<p>I suspect that Michigan is just as irresponsible.</p>
<p>They have to cut back somewhere.</p>
<p>And I suspect that many of these college students are from middle class families. And that if the government cuts off their food stamps, then their parents will pay. And perhaps many of these kids are not even state residents. How many of these kids who are getting food aid then go out to the bars on a Friday night, and order five drinks, essentially at taxpayer expense?.</p>
<p>I know it sounds harsh, but the government is not a nanny.</p>
<p>It would, however, be better if they analyzed each individual’s case. Some are no doubt deserving. But based on my experiences, I would say most are probably taking advantage of the system.</p>
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<p>If they were gettting $150 as a household, Kayla’s story would not be newsworthy and it would have spoken to cuts to the family budget. I believe that Kayla is receiving food stamps as an individual (especially since the article states that she became eligible in september). An 18 year old can receive PA benefits by stating that they are not living in their parents household (they can get a letter from a third party stating that they are allowing the person to live there. They can even get a letter from the parent stating that they are only providing room and cannot afford to feed them). The $150 is in align with $200/month in food stamps benefits that an individual receives as single person in NYC.</p>
<p>Gee Baron’s, I suppose that is just one more reason to go to UW over UM -huh :rolleyes: Can you be more transparent?</p>
<p>Somebody compares the money spent on Somalia where hundreds of thousands are at risk due to their ongoing famine versus the plight of American college students? What planet are we living on?</p>
<p>My father lived through famine where people lay donw died on the side of the road. Almost half the world lives on under US$2 each day. Let’s get real.</p>
<p>Sorry, but college students on food stamps doesn’t work for me.</p>
<p>The new economic reality in the US is everyone will has to adjust to a far, far more serious “quality of life” adjustment. Down. The recent fight in congress was really about what class of citizens will get get what portion of a smaller economic pie.</p>
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A little plastic card that they swipe, yes. But it can still only be used at food stores for select food items. I don’t see why you put “ATM card” there, unless you want to create the illusion of people taking their food money out of ATMs to go party, which you simply cannot do.</p>