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Divide educational benefits by the number of months in the period the benefits are intended to cover (that is, semester, term, and so on).

If income is received on a regular basis and is representative of the amount the applicant or recipient can reasonably be expected to receive throughout the eligibility period, total countable income is projected on the basis of the income actually received during the thirty days preceding the date of application or recertification.

If total countable income received during the thirty days preceding the date of application is not representative of the income that the applicant or recipient can reasonably be expected to receive, as in cases where the individual has been ill, is performing seasonal labor, or anticipates an increase in income, make the necessary adjustment for an accurate projection of income.

If income is received on an irregular basis, review the case circumstances with the applicant or recipient to determine the most appropriate means of projecting income. A lump sum payment of earned income must be prorated over the months it is expected to take to earn the payment. If the irregular income is from self-employment or seasonal employment, review the income earned during the three months prior to the month of application or recertification if that is the best estimate of what future earnings during the certification period are likely to be.

In determining eligibility on the basis of income, certain deductions are subtracted from countable income to determine net MA income (see Section 6.3: Income Disregards and Deductions in this Part. Net MA income is then compared to the applicable income levels to determine eligibility.

TANF See MA. GC Income is budgeted prospectively. GC groups rarely have countable earnings since GC groups are comprised solely of children enrolled in school who are not working full-time. A child eligible for GC has his/her earnings disregarded entirely. If a GC child is married however, earnings could be deemed. In this rare case, earnings would be converted to expected monthly earnings as in TANF. Example

Ms. Weiss earns $6.15 an hour and usually works 40 hours a week. She is paid every other Friday. Her last three gross pay amounts (from the month prior to the month of application) were $492, $492, and $522.75. The higher pay amount was the result of working overtime.

Ms. Weiss has submitted a signed statement from her employer to verify that her hours will be cut back to 35 hours per week effective the first day of the next month.

When determining Ms. Weiss's income for the month of application (when she was still working 40 hours per week), use her expected gross pay for the month of application. If she expects to work 40 hours during the month of application and does not expect to work overtime, assume that she will earn $492 per paycheck. (ACEDS will convert her gross earnings from these two paychecks to a monthly earnings figure based on her being paid bi-weekly.) Determine the group's eligibility for the month of application based on her expected monthly income in that month.

When determining the group's eligibility in future months, Ms. Weiss's expected earnings, taking into account her reduced hours of work, should be used. Ms. Weiss's paychecks are expected to be reduced to $430.50 based on working 35 hours per week at $6.15 per hour. This bi-weekly earnings figure should be used when determining the group's prospective eligibility.