Texas Resident: Can I be an independant college student and qualify for Welfare/Wic/TANF Etc?

Question

I am 31 years old, and I think pregnant. I am fulltime in college and scared to death, honestly. I need to know if I would qualify for Welfare/Wic/Tanf etc. I know my income is low enough but do those programs exclude college students? I am independent and also on full financial aid/scholarships and grants if that matters. My husband and I are both full time students with zero income.

Quitting school isn't an option, especially if I am ever to make a better life for myself and now my child.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter.

PS, I live in Texas if that matters.

BTW I will likely be graduated by the time the baby is born, with a pretty nice income. I'd appreciate answers that were on that topic and not opinionated. Public assistance is supposed to there for those who need it.

hoping someone can answer if welfare services will let full time college students apply and get welfare. Please help.

Answer 1

First off, find out if you are indeed pregnant. A quick visit to student health clinic should give you that answer.

If you are pregnant and decide to have the baby or put it up for adoption, you can most likely qualify for WIC and other programs. All you need to do is apply. There is no promise made that you will get into the programs, but the chances are good. Most likely you will have to prove that your income is solely based upon being in school and that all the money coming in is spent on classes and text books.

However, you might want to consider getting a part-time job. If there is an opening on campus that does not require heavy lifting, go for it.

Answer 2

So I went to school in San Marcos which is in between Austin and San Antonio. The most awesome thing about central texas is the variety of people that live, work, and go to school here. There are a lot of people that live here from Mexico more so in San Antonio than in Austin. As for the universities they are not filled up with "immigrants" or an excessive amount of white people. They are pretty diversified and so are the kinds of people competing for financial aid. It really depends on the school you pick, if you go with UT you will be in a VERY diversified student body with lots of people competing for financial aid since it is a very large school that a lot of people desire to go to and also very expensive. Texas State is still very diversified, a little laid back compared to UT and is smaller so the qualifications and cost are a little lower making it easier to get into. There are many smaller schools in San Antonio that are reasonably priced with financial aid available but you will see more Hispanics as it is farther south. I will tell you that central Texas is probably best described (at least for me) as Tex-Mex. The influences of both cultures are really easy to see no matter where you are here. As for jobs we have not been hit quite as hard as most places but here recently there have been some lay offs. There are some really competitive nursing programs here and some that are not so competitive. I haven't really seen that workers losing their jobs are turning to health care but I also don't work in health care so I can't be for certain. So I guess in summary you can find all ends of the spectrum as far as college, jobs, and the availability of financial aid. Really you just have to do some research on the particular school that you want to go to. Hope that helps and if you do ever get here Welcome to Texas!

Answer 3

Yeah, you probably could get benefits if you proved you were pregnant...but I don't think it is very responsible to bring a baby in this world w/ no way to support it other that welfare...