Overheard in a classroom: “Yeah, man, you should sign up for one of these. I get, like, $200 every month for groceries. I’m thinking I can buy, like, a ton of alcohol and then resell it for, like, a lot more.” The college student then picks up his iPod touch, and returns to listening to his music.
Currently, around 1.9 million people receive financial support through the Michigan Bridge Card. The Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) provides these Bridge Cards for disadvantaged individuals or families on a temporary basis. The DHS’s “ultimate goal” is to help the disadvantaged people “become, or remain, self-sufficient.”
The DHS offers not only financial and emotional support for people, but also help them increase their personal responsibility and encourage employment. However, in February the DHS announced they will be cracking down on providing financial support for college students based on “exploitation.”
Around 25,000 Michigan college students will be affected by the new regulations. In the past, students that had Bridge cards received a monthly allowance from the government, meant to provide them with money for groceries and other necessary items. The former Bridge Card application policy, which was altered in April, required applicants to provide information about their earned and unearned income and household expenses to the DHS. Depending on those factors, DHS can allot a monthly food stipend of up to $200.
“College kids are not the client that was intended for Bridge Cards,” State Rep. Joe Haveman (R-Holland) told the Student Free Press. “For a traditional college student coming out of a middle class family, their parents are their support system.”
The crackdown is not going unnoticed. Many college students have expressed their outrage over the change in regulations.
Casey Smith, a full time student at Grand Valley State University, plans to attend Michigan State Universities law program in the future. She has a job, but relies on her Bridge Card to “bridge the gap” financially.
“Todays college student is more independent,” said Smith on WoodTV. “Our parents aren’t helping us as much because our parents have their own obligations. With the recession, they aren’t making as much money, or have more debt.”
Smith says she does not think cutting out financial aid for students is the best way to fix the problem. For her, monitoring the program more strictly would be a better way to handle the situation.
The governments regulations will allow some college students to receive the monthly allowance, but only if they meet some of the federal guidelines, like being over the age of fifty or caring for children under the age of six.
“My goal is to make sure that we’re just not teaching the kids how to abuse the system before they’re even out of college, and that’s exactly what’s been going on,” said Rep. Dave Agema.
The government says they are not singling out the college students in this crack down, but students disagree. Many believe that because college age kids do not bring in enough votes, they are being overlooked.
The new regulations on the Bridge Card are said to save the State of Michigan around $4 million a year.
-Torie McCray
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/Bridge-Cards-for-college-students-over
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