U.S. Department of Agriculture gets rid of school meal processing fees for low-income families

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that families who qualify for free and reduced priced meals at school will no longer have to pay meal processing fees. 

The change will go into effect at the start of the 2027-28 school year; however, the USDA is requesting that schools implement the change as soon as possible. 

This is only the first action the USDA has taken to eliminate school meal processing fees, the department says, and it is looking at finding a way for all families, regardless of their income level, to no longer pay junk fees when adding money to their child’s meal account.  

“USDA and schools across America share the common goal of nourishing schoolchildren and giving them the fuel they need to learn, grown and thrive,” said U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement. “While today’s action to eliminate extra fees for lower income households is a major step in the right direction, the most equitable path forward is to offer every child access to healthy school meals at no cost. We will continue to work with Congress to move toward that goal so all kids have the nutrition they need to reach their full potential.”

A report released earlier this year by the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau found that processors usually charge fees to add money to students’ school lunch accounts. On average, these extra fees cost $2.37, or 4.4%, of the total transaction. 

Low-income families are typically hit the hardest by the fees, the report stated, since they’re more likely to make frequent small payments to their children’s lunch accounts, compared to other families who can afford to load a larger amount of money on their child’s account at one time. 

Schools are required to offer a fee-free option for families to load more money into students’ lunch accounts, however, many times these options are not well advertised or accessible, the report stated. 

Along with today’s announcement, the USDA issued a memo that reiterated the requirement that all schools must make fee-free options available and known to families. The memo also included a list of best practices schools can use to inform families of the payment methods available that do not add fees.