Changes to SNAP and Medicaid Would Have Implications for Student Access to School Meals. Research Report

Abstract

House Republicans have passed their version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which now goes to the Senate for consideration. The goal is to pass the bill by July, though final content and timeline are subject to change. The bill puts forth several changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) aimed at reducing federal spending by up to $290 billion (House Agriculture 2025a). It also would make several changes to Medicaid. But these changes would affect more than individual eligibility and participation in SNAP and Medicaid, as free school meal access has become increasingly intertwined with SNAP and Medicaid. To reduce duplicative paperwork for schools, students receiving SNAP or Medicaid automatically qualify for free school meals. The changes to SNAP and Medicaid that House Republicans passed in their recent spending bill would have downstream effects on student access to free school meals. Urban Institute analysis uses a sample of 37 states and the District of Columbia to estimate the number of students at risk of losing individual access to free meals, as well as access to universal free meal programs. There is a careful distinction in this analysis between individual access to free meals and access to universal free meal programs, which come with their own set of advantages for students and schools. CEP and universal free school meals in general are associated with a range of positive academic, behavioral, and health outcomes for students, including those who are not eligible for free meals based on their family's income (Gordon and Ruffini 2021; Gutierrez 2021; Ruffini 2022). Losing eligibility for CEP, even if students maintain individual eligibility for free school meals, may result in the loss of these benefits (Blagg, Rainer, and Waxman 2019). Although individual students losing SNAP would remain income eligible for free school meals, and an estimated 37 million students would remain directly certified, the changes to SNAP and Medicaid would leave fewer students automatically enrolled for these meals, especially if students enrolled in both SNAP and Medicaid were to lose both benefits. A reduction in the number of students automatically enrolled for these meals would increase school meal costs in schools, districts, and states with universal free meal policies, leading to the rollback of universal free school meals.