Oh Snap! Foodstamps For College Kids?
Oh Snap! Foodstamps For College Kids?
Call me crazy, but when I needed money for college, I got a job. Sure, I missed a few TKE parties and games like “quarters,” but it built character and kept me out of trouble (mostly). I was recently dumbfounded to learn of another entitlement program slated for expansion. This one is aimed at college students. It’s the former food stamp program that was renamed in 2008 to Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program or SNAP. The program is being championed by both universities and—you guessed it—our federal government. Come to think of it, my school had a supplemental nutrition program of sorts. We called it the keg party.
The promoters of SNAP were concerned that students might be embarrassed to use food stamp coupons, so they came up with a nifty credit card. After all, doesn’t every student have a right to a credit card? I’m sure it fits nicely inside their trapper keepers. By the way, do the kids still use trapper keepers? Why not make an app for their iphones (surely they all have one), and have groceries delivered right to their door. Those students with discriminating tastes prefer to use the credit at high end organic stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. What, no ramen noodles or mac and cheese? Goodbye government cheese—hello government brie!
The welfare state mentality has truly jumped the shark. About 13% of Americans are now on food stamps. It was no surprise to me that Obama’s latest budget calls for 72.5 billion in food stamps–nearly double the amount in 2008. If these programs work so well, shouldn’t we have fewer people on them? This administration is doing everything in its power to promote “cradle to grave” entitlements. I have no problem with food stamps for the needy, but to expand the program to include college students? Really? According to the Northwood University blog, “Should College Students Use Food Stamps” (Nov. 19, 2009), “Students are not needy in any real sense; they just have a cash flow problem.”
As a college student who began working in my parent’s restaurant at age 14, I was definitely a minority. I couldn’t believe how many of my classmates hadn’t worked a day in their young lives. Promoters of SNAP are trying to convince students that they’ve “paid into the system” so they deserve to use it. The problem is that some students are just self centered enough to buy into that nonsense.
Another argument made by supporters is that the program is necessary to offset the ever increasing cost of college tuition. I would offer this as yet another example of the government causing the very problem it is claiming to solve. According to College Board, “Trends in Student Aid, 2008″
”The growth in federal spending on higher education subsidies has increased the number and percentage of postsecondary students dependent on government aid. In the 2007-2008 school year, 5.4 million students received Pell Grant scholarships—compared to 3.7 million in 1997-1998 and 2.9 million in 1987-1988.”
From College Board, “Trends in College Pricing, 2008″
“Years of increased federal subsidies and dependence on student aid has been followed by consistent growth in college costs. The College Board reports that published tuition and fees at public and private four-year institutions rose at an average annual rate of 4.2 and 2.4 percent after inflation over the past decade.”
William W. Beach of the Heritage Center for Data Analysis wrote in “The 2009 Index of Dependence on Government” (March 4, 2010): “By continuing to increase student aid, and expand the pool of students who are able to access aid programs, government spending increases on higher education have made students less sensitive to college price increases and facilitated runaway spending by many colleges and universities.”
It would seem the solution to reducing college costs is for schools to increase competition by lowering costs to attract more students, not to add more and more students to the government dole. In her book The New American Revolution Tammy Bruce eloquently stated, “It is extraordinary to answer only to myself. It is a freedom every one of us deserves.”
Christine Morabito has a BA in Communications from Truman State University. She works as a psychiatric nurse and is passionate about politics and conservativism.
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