Educational Income
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This section includes information about educational income and the treatment of educational expenses.
Policy
Educational income may be countable or not countable depending on the source of the income and the programs for which the participant has applied. The net countable educational income is established by deducting allowable educational expenses from the gross countable educational income.
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s expenses are exceeding their income. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Educational income can be earned or unearned income. A participant may receive financial aid (educational income) for enrollment in or for attending any of the following:
●Colleges
●Universities
●Schools for the handicapped
●Technical and trade schools
●Programs that provide for completing either a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) diploma
Types of Educational Income
Educational income includes, and is not limited to, any of the following:
●BIA Allowance For Educational Expenses
●Grants, Loans, Awards and Scholarships
●Guaranteed and Other Loans
●IDA Deposits
●American Indian Education Funds
●State Funded Student Loans
●Tribal Student Loans
●Veterans Administration Educational Income
NOTE The Montgomery GI bill Chapter 30 and other income paid to the participant by the Veteran's Administration for educational purposes are not countable.
●Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Allowances
When a provider of a countable educational income source pays a third party for living expenses, all of the following apply:
●Countable as unearned educational income for the NA benefit.
●Not countable as income for CA benefits. The income is considered a vendor payment.
Types of Educational Expenses
Educational expenses include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Books and Supplies, and other necessary items.
●Mandatory Educational Fees, including any of the following:
Tuition
Lab fees
Uniforms
Equipment
Materials
Educational Supplies
●Miscellaneous educational and personal expenses are allowable for NA, including and not limited to any of the following:
Personal care, such as haircuts, laundry expenses, clothing, personal hygiene items
Recording equipment, data processing equipment, software
Auto repair, when necessary for school attendance
NOTE For CA, personal educational expenses are not an allowable education deduction from education income.
●Student Dependent Care
For NA, dependent care is not an allowable educational expense.
For CA, dependent care is an allowable educational expense when dependent care is necessary for the student to attend school.
When educational dependent care expenses exceed countable educational income for a given month, all of the following apply:
●FAA uses the excess educational childcare expense to determine the CA dependent care deduction.
●FAA deducts dependent care expenses from the countable educational income last to provide the greatest advantage to the student. For more information about the allowable dependent care deduction, see CA Dependent Care Deduction.
●Educational Transportation expenses are an allowable expense only for NA.
NOTE When the participant can verify the mileage for transportation, see Mileage Standard for the current mileage standard.
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
●Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Examples of verification that can be used for educational income and expenses include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Award letter
●Loan paper
●School statement
●Student expenses
●Bank loan funds
●Participant statement for transportation expenses
●Expense receipts
●School budget sheet or computer printout
Legal Authorities
AAC R6-12-501 – 503
A.R.S 46-292-P01
7 CFR 273.8(e)(20)
7 CFR 273.9(b)(1)(vi)
7 CFR 273.9(b)(2)(iv)
7 CFR 273.9(c)(1)(iv)
7 CFR 273.9(c)(3)(i)
7 CFR 273.9(c)(3)(ii)
7 CFR 273.9(c)(3)(iii)
7 U.S.C. 2014(d)(3) a-c
last revised 10/02/2023