This page features foreign language translations of the Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals. They are provided by USDA as a template to assist state and local agencies in serving households where English is not spoken as a primary language. Households may also download these resources directly to be filled out and submitted to their local school district.
USDA offers prototypes of school meal applications, as well as sample instructional documents intended to assist state and local officials in the design and distribution of their own application materials.
The Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines (IEGs), are used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals or free milk.
The NSLP offers free and reduced-price school meals to students from eligible households. Households with incomes at or below 130 percent of poverty are eligible for free meals, and households with incomes between 131 percent and 185 percent of poverty are eligible for reduced-price meals. Traditionally, to receive these benefits, households had to complete and submit application forms to schools or be directly certified. Direct certification, on the other hand, is a method of eligibility determination that does not require families to complete school meal applications. Instead, school officials use documentation from the local or state welfare agency that indicates that a household participates in AFDC or food stamps as the basis for certifying students for free school meals.