Progress Bar Step 1

Click on the steps above to navigate through the steps. Tooltip text goes here

Income Eligibility Guidelines for NSLP eligibility are available on the web page of the United States Department of Agriculture by following the links for “National School Lunch Program” and “Income Eligibility.”

The FCC also allows for the use of other mechanisms to determine a school’s level of need, as long as those mechanisms are based on – or do not exceed – the same measure of poverty used by NSLP.

Collecting Data for Discounts: Surveys

A school may design a survey that provides the necessary information that measures a family’s level of need. Surveys must be based on the following guidelines:

• The survey must be sent to all families whose children attend the school.
• The survey must, at a minimum, contain the following information:
  • Name of family and students;
  • Size of the family; and
  • Income level of the family.

Income data (or eligibility data based on income) from a survey used to support a discount level for a funding request cannot be older than two years before the start of the funding year (FY).

For example, the data gathered from an income survey done in September 2016 can be used for funding requests for FY2017 and FY2018, but not for FY2019. Therefore, surveys must be done at least every other year.

Beginning in FY2015, applicants may use NSLP applications as their survey instrument.

The results of a survey may not be extrapolated and must be based on the actual number of students whose survey responses demonstrate that they meet the NSLP criteria.