More students receive free meals at school as CEP participation continues to rise

The number of schools that are offering universal free school meals to students through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is continuing to increase, according to a new report by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). 

Established through the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010, CEP allows participating schools and districts with a high level of low-income students to serve meals to all students for free, regardless of their family income. Participating schools and districts also do not need to collect free or reduced-price meal applications. Individual schools, a group of schools or an entire district can participate in CEP. 

The report found that 7,717 school districts had one or more schools that implemented CEP during the 2023-24 school year, an increase of 1,298 school districts, or 20.2%, from the 2022– 2023 school year. It also found that 23.6 million children attended a CEP school during the 2023-24 school year, an increase of nearly 3.8 million children, or 18.9%, from the previous school year. 

One of the reasons for the increase in CEP participation is due to the USDA lowering the percentage of low-income students required for schools and districts to participate in the program, the report’s authors argue. 

Previously, schools and districts could only qualify for the program if they had an identified student percentage (ISP) of at least 40%. The ISP is the percentage of the student body that is eligible for free meals at school due to their families’ participation in federal benefits programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

Schools calculate their ISP by dividing the number of students who are eligible for free meals through federal benefits programs by the total student enrollment. A multiplier of 1.6 is also applied to the ISP to account for low-income students who do not participate in such federal programs. 

In October 2023, the USDA lowered the ISP needed to implement CEP from 40% to 25% allowing more schools to participate in the program. 

While more students now have access to free meals at school, there is still more work to be done, according to the FRAC. 

The report’s authors are calling on Congress to pass existing legislation like The School Hunger Elimination Act and the School Nutrition Red Tape Reduction Act which would make it easier for school nutrition programs to participate in CEP by increasing the multiplier used to determine ISP from 1.6 to 2.5.

“While we are grateful for the recent lowering of the threshold for CEP participation, without additional funding, many schools and districts across the country still struggle to adopt this transformative program,” said Crystal FitzSimons, FRAC interim president, in a statement. “Increasing the federal reimbursement multiplier is essential to ensure that every eligible school can provide free, nutritious meals to all students.”