Hot Meals for College Students Act of 2026

The Hot Meals for College Students Act of 2026 would allow households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to use their benefits to purchase prepared food at dining halls and other food service locations on college campuses. This change directly affects low-income college students by permitting them to buy individual hot meals, while explicitly prohibiting the use of these funds for meal plans, stored-value accounts, or non-food charges. The bill requires that on-campus merchants charge the same prices for benefit purchases as for cash transactions and forbids them from adding fees or surcharges. Additionally, the legislation mandates that the Secretary of Agriculture issue implementing regulations within one year and conduct a study to report on the program's impact on food insecurity and student retention rates.