Children in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), and foster children can get free school meals without reporting household income. Also, children can get free school meals if their household income is within the maximum income shown for their household size in the instructions.

Include yourself and all other people living in the household, related or not (such as grandparents, other relatives and friends).

Information you provide on the form, and your child’s approval for school meal benefits, will be protected as private data. See the back page of the Application for Educational Benefits for more information about how the information is used.

You or your children do not have to be U.S. citizens for your children to qualify for free meals.

ou may apply at any time during the school year if your income goes down, household size goes up or if you start getting Food Stamps, MFIP or FDPIR benefits.  Approval is valid for the school year.

Applications cannot be approved if any required information is missing. You may be asked to send written proof of information.