Hot Meals for College Students Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA]
Introduced
Summary
Allows SNAP benefits to be used to buy on-campus meals for eligible college student households. The bill would create a new on-campus meal authority with definitions, merchant rules, privacy protections, and a required evaluation to track use and barriers.
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- Defines who counts as an "eligible student household" and what qualifies as an "on-campus meal," including single-transaction purchases and possible online or mobile options. It explicitly excludes adding value to meal plans, stored-value top-ups, paying outstanding balances, and nonfood charges.
- Lets institutions of higher education or contracted third-party operators apply to be authorized merchants that accept benefits only for on-campus meals. Authorized merchants must offer pricing parity, cannot charge fees or surcharges, and the bill adds a point-of-sale equipment cost category for consideration.
- Requires the Secretary to issue regulations and guidance within 1 year covering merchant oversight, eligibility checks via the EBT system, protection of personally identifiable information, and technical assistance to states, colleges, and merchants. The Secretary must also publish a public report within 2 years describing authorization breadth, counts of eligible households and redemptions, barriers encountered, food-insecurity metrics, and recommendations.
Note: The bill clarifies these changes do not alter existing college-student eligibility rules or residency determinations.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
More SNAP help for college students
If enacted, eligible SNAP student households would be able to use SNAP benefits to buy prepared meals sold on campus from approved on-campus merchants. The Secretary would have to issue final rules and guidance within 1 year, and the change would take effect when those rules are issued. Merchants would need authorization to accept benefits only for on-campus meals, must charge the same prices for benefit and non-benefit purchases, and may not add fees or surcharges. You would not be able to use SNAP to prepay meal plans, add money to dining or stored-value accounts, pay outstanding student account balances, or buy nonfood items, fees, or gratuities. Identification would be handled through the EBT system so merchants would not have to collect student-status information, and protections for personally identifiable information would be required. The bill would also require a public study and report within 2 years on use, barriers, and food insecurity outcomes.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA]
CA • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov