Should starving college kids be eligible for food stamps?

[chanel]

Michigan has removed about 30,000 college students from its food stamp program — close to double the initial estimate — saving about $75 million a year, says Human Services Director Maura Corrigan.

Federal rules don't allow most college students to collect food stamps, but Michigan had created its own rules that made nearly all students eligible, said Brian Rooney, Corrigan's deputy director. As a result, the number of Michigan college students on this form of welfare made the state a national leader. For example, Michigan had 10 times the number of students on food stamps as either Illinois or California, Rooney said.

Cutting off the students is part of what Corrigan says is an effort to change the culture of the state's welfare department and slash tens of millions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse.

"Maybe (students) could go get a part-time job — that's what I did," said Corrigan, a former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court who attended Detroit's Marygrove College and University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

"We want to encourage people to be self-sufficient, not to be dependent on the government," she said in an interview with The Detroit News.

Under the federally funded program, college students generally aren't eligible, Rooney said. But Michigan had created an exception for those participating in a valid employment and training program. Employment training was defined as attending college, he said.

From The Detroit News: Politics-State | 30,000 college students kicked out of food aid program in Michigan | The Detroit News

Unbelievable.

Comments?

 

[blastoff]

Let 'em eat cake.

 

[Ravi]

There is already a huge thread on this topic.