The Student Earned Income Exclusion and SSI School & Work Incentives
Education and job training may help you achieve your work goals, but they can also be expensive. This work Incentive is for students who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and want to work to earn more money while they attend classes or job training. It can help you keep your SSI benefits as you move toward financial independence.
What is the Student Earned Income Exclusion?
If you receive SSI, are under the age of 22, and working while you regularly attend school, you may be able to use a work incentive called the “Student Earned Income Exclusion” (SEIE). If you are eligible for the SEIE, Social Security will exclude up to $2,220 of your wages per month in 2023 before they deduct any other earned income exclusions. This will reduce how much of your wages count and allow you to keep much more of your SSI check each month. You can use the SEIE each month you work until you use the full annual SEIE exclusion amount of $8,950 in 2023. The SEIE exclusion amounts change each year based on cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs).
Let’s take a look at an example to see how the SEIE can affect an eligible student’s SSI benefit each month.
Mary receives SSI benefits and meets the criteria as a student. She starts working in January 2023 and earns $2,500 per month. This is the only income she receives, and she has no unearned income. When Social Security calculates her countable earnings, they apply the SEIE before any other SSI income exclusions. Mary’s countable income follows:
Amount Notes
$2,500.00 Gross Earnings
$2,220.00 Minus SEIE (Maximum monthly is $2,220.00)
$280.00
$20.00 Minus General Exclusion
$260.00
$65.00 Minus Earned Income Exclusion
$195.00
$97.50 Minus one-half remainder
$97.50 Countable Income
By applying the SEIE and other exclusions, Social Security only counts $97.50 of the $2,500 Mary earned when they adjust her SSI payment.
Are you eligible?
To qualify for the SEIE, you must:
- receive SSI benefits,
- be under the age 22,
- regularly attend school, college, or job training to prepare for work.
If you have a disability that requires you to stay at home, you can qualify for the SEIE if you have an at-home training with a tutor from a school or you take classes online. When you find a job, and initially report your earnings to Social Security, it’s a good idea to be proactive and report that you’re a student. If you choose not to, Social Security will verify your student status during your SSI re-determination process. This usually takes place approximately once a year, but may happen more or less often, depending on your circumstances.
You remain eligible for the SEIE even while classes are not in session. If you plan to and do return to classes after the break, the SEIE can still be applied to your earnings.
What does “regularly attending school” mean?
Regular attendance means you are taking one or more courses of study and attend classes:
- In a college or university for at least 8 hours a week every semester or term; or
- In grades 7-12, for at least 12 hours a week; or
- In a training course to prepare for employment for at least 12 hours a week (15 hours a week if the course involves shop practice); or
- In online school for grades 7-12, college, university or government agency approved by the laws of the state in which the online school is located; or
- Are home-schooled (grades 7-12) following the laws of your state or school district, or have a home visitor or tutor from school who directs your studying or training for at least 12 hours per week.
In some cases, Social Security will allow you to use the SEIE even if you spend less time attending classes if it is due to reasons out of your control, such as illness.
How does the SEIE work?
- If you receive SSI and start working, you must report your wages to Social Security. Your Community Work Incentives Coordinator (CWIC) from your local Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program can give you information about how to report your wages and ask Social Security to apply the SEIE.
- If you meet the basic eligibility requirements for the SEIE, Social Security may ask you to show some type of proof that you are regularly attending school. Proof can be a student ID, tuition receipt, or a letter from your school. Be sure to give Social Security the name and address of the school you are attending in case they need to contact the school.
- If you are eligible for the SEIE, Social Security will disregard all of your wages up to a maximum of $2,220 each month in 2023. For example, if you earn $1,000 in a month, Social Security will disregard all of your wages since this amount is under the monthly limit of $2,220. In this case, none of your wages would count and you will receive your full SSI benefit. If you earned $2,300 in a month, Social Security would disregard the monthly limit of $2,220 and only the remaining $80 of your wages would count.
- If you earn enough to use up the annual SEIE limit of $8,950, Social Security will use the regular deductions when they decide how much of your wages count for the rest of the calendar year. If you are still working in the next year and still meet the eligibility requirements for the SEIE, you will have new monthly and yearly SEIE exclusions to use.
Using the SEIE can get a little complicated, we at Mission Possible have certified Community Partner Work Incentive Counselors on staff to make sure you get all of the exclusions you are allowed to take. Give us a call 888-359-2366 or email tina@mpes.net.
Until next time
~ Tina
Resource links used for this blog:
https://vcu-ntdc.org/resources/WIPA_OtherResources/SSI%20Factsheet%20-%20SEIE_2023-07-10.pdf
https://choosework.ssa.gov/blog/2017-05-24-wiw-making-the-grade-at-school-and-work
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