The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) plays a critical role in ensuring people with low incomes can afford groceries while combining work with education beyond high school. We know that as people gain more education, their employability and economic security improve, and their need for public support declines. However, federal eligibility rules within SNAP restrict postsecondary education, undermining one of the most effective paths to economic security, harming individual and state educational attainment goals and impeding economic growth.
Our research shows that at the national level and in every state SNAP participants are less likely to have achieved a college credential and that college degree holders are less likely to report receiving SNAP. This research supports a robust body of evidence demonstrating that people with college degrees earn more and have lower unemployment rates. It also reinforces that aligning SNAP to support postsecondary education is an overdue common-sense modernization of the SNAP program that better reflects the needs of individuals, of states, and the economy.
Click on each state to learn more about their SNAP and education attainment rates.
