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175 (07/2026) Chapter 2:Eligibility • Section 3: Individual information • Must be placed or voluntarily enrolled in a career and technical education program (CTE) or referred by a government employment and training program such as STEP or ABAWD.
If the student is eligible but does not meet the above criteria, they are exempt from the SNAP work program. • Have income and resources counted when determining eligibility. Ineligible students If the student does not meet an exemption: • They are excluded from the filing, financial, need and benefit groups. • Any costs they pay for the household are not allowed as deductions. Changes in student status When a student reduces their credit hours to less than halftime (by dropping or withdrawing from classes) in a term or report that they are no longer attending, the students of higher education rules no longer apply to them. Verification of withdrawal or reduction in classes/hours is only needed if questionable. For individuals who no longer meet the SNAP requirements for students of higher education, it is important to consider if this person is now subject to ABAWD time requirements or is no longer exempt from work registration. Student eligibility needs to be reviewed to determine if the student meets any eligible student eligibility criteria. If so, a conversation may be needed to determine if there is countable educational income; all countable income must be verified. If a SNAP recipient reports starting higher education, ODHS|OHA staff should explain reporting requirements. An individual who meets the SNAP eligibility requirements of a student of higher education is exempt from work registration. This would also exempt them from ABAWD time limits. When processing an application or Periodic Report for a student before they have received an expected financial aid award, processing should not be delayed while waiting for verification of future income. Staff should explain reporting requirements and ways to report changes and provide the student with a change report form. If an eligible student reports a change that indicates that they are no longer eligible under the original student eligibility criteria, ONE case notes should be reviewed to determine if any other student eligibility criteria were identified. If they are still not eligible, timely closure notice to close the case should be sent. • The student will need to reapply with a new application and is required to meet an exemption to continue to meet eligible student eligibility requirements for SNAP. • If the student contacts the branch and student eligibility criteria is identified, the add or reopen case action button in ONE is used to prevent it from closing at the end of the month. It is important that action and student eligibility criteria are narrated clearly, and the case is allowed to continue in the current certification period. TANF Eighteen-year-olds who are not regularly attending school full-time as defined by the school are not