• View charts: Free and reduced price lunch eligibility
• View charts: Tooth decay (children)
• View charts: Dental sealants (children)
• Explore data: FRPL eligibility data query
• Explore data: FRPL interactive map

Children who are eligible for the free and reduced price lunch program generally come from low-income households.  Children from low-income households may be more vulnerable to severe dental disease and other chronic diseases.   

• Create awareness among professionals, researchers, grant makers, policy makers and the public on free and reduced price lunch eligibility rates in Minnesota public schools.
• Provide statistical evidence to support state and local program planning, evaluation, and policies.  
• Target prevention efforts (e.g. healthy eating and fluoridated tap water campaigns, school dental sealant programs) and resources toward counties, school districts, and schools identified as having higher student free and reduced price lunch eligibility rates. 

• The actual percentage of students in poverty enrolled in public schools.
• The percent of public school students receiving free and reduced price lunch.
• Free and reduced price lunch eligibility among students enrolled in non-public schools, traditional and charter public schools that did not participate in the National School Meal Program, or public schools with missing eligibility data.   

The total number and percent of students eligible for the free and reduced price lunch program is used as an alternative measure or indicator of the percentage of children within public schools from low-income households.  This indicator helps to assess need or identify vulnerable populations for public health programs.    

• Eligible free lunch program: the number and percentage of students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 Minnesota public schools who are eligible for the free lunch program on October 1 of each new school year.
• Eligible reduced price lunch program: the number and percentage of students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 Minnesota public schools who are eligible for the reduced price lunch program on October 1 of each new school year.
• Total eligible free and reduced price lunch program: the total number and percent of students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 Minnesota public schools who are eligible for the free and reduced price lunch program on October 1 of each new school year.

Eligible free lunch program (percent): The number of students eligible for the free lunch program divided by the total number of students enrolled multiplied by 100 to get a percent.

Eligible reduced price lunch program (percent): The number of students eligible for the reduced price lunch program divided by the total number of students enrolled multiplied by 100 to get a percent.

Total eligible free and reduced price lunch program (percent): The number of students eligible for the free and reduced price lunch program divided by the total number of students enrolled multiplied by 100 to get a percent.

In the stratified analyses found on the View Charts: Free and reduced price lunch eligibility page, free and reduced price lunch eligibility rates were weighted by the total number of students enrolled in public schools.   

Students eligible for the free and reduced price lunch program enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 public schools.  

• Free and reduced price lunch eligibility is not an actual measure of the percentage of students in poverty enrolled in a school. 
• The Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program is an opt-in program in most schools.  Parents or guardians and students over age 18 may not enroll in the program.    
• Household income requirements for free and reduced price lunch eligibility may not be comparable across years because they are revised each year at the federal level.
• Data does not include student free and reduced price lunch eligibility in public schools with missing data or schools that did not participate in the National School Lunch Program.  
• Schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program accept applications for free and reduced price school meal benefits at any time, however the number of students eligible for free and reduced price lunch is recorded every fall (October 1) of the new school year.  

Free and reduced price lunch eligibility numbers for Minnesota public schools are located in the student data enrollment file on the Minnesota Department of Education Data Center Data Reports & Analytics webpage.  United States statistics are located on the National Center for Education Statistics webpage.     

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in over 100,000 public and nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions.  It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to millions of children each school day.

The Food and Nutrition Service administers the program at the federal level.  At the state level, NSLP is administered by state education agencies (e.g. Minnesota Department of Education), which operate the program through agreements with public school food authorities.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets the free and reduced price lunch eligibility based on household income eligibility guidelines (per Section 9 of the National School Lunch Act).  These guidelines may change from year to year.  Guidelines effective July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018 are:

• Free price lunch: incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level ($31,980 for a family of four).
• Reduced price lunch: incomes 131 to 185 percent of the poverty level ($45,510 for a family of four). 

During the 2017 to 2018 school year, 319,760 Minnesota public school students were eligible for free and reduced price lunch, or 4 out of every 10 public school students.   

Federal health programs use a two-category definition for describing rates of free and reduced price lunch eligibility within public schools to assess need or identify vulnerable populations within public schools.  These categories are used to describe the data found on View charts: Free and reduced price lunch eligibility page.

View charts: Free and reduced price lunch (FRPL) eligibility categories:

• Low: Less than 50.0 percent of students are FRPL eligible.
• High: 50.0 percent or more students are FRPL eligible. 

The National Center for Education Statistics use a four-category definition for describing rates of free and reduced price lunch eligibility within public schools, an alternative measure or indicator for the concentration of low-income students within traditional and charter public schools.  These subcategories are found on Tooth decay (children) and Dental sealants (children) pages.  They are also found in the View charts: FRPL eligibility data query and FRPL eligibility interactive map 

Free and reduced price lunch (FRPL) eligibility subcategories:

• Low: 25.0 percent or less of students are FRPL eligible. 
• Mid-low: 25.1 to 50.0 percent of students are FRPL eligible.
• Mid-high: 50.1 to 75.0 percent of students are FRPL eligible.
• High: More than 75.0 percent of students are FRPL eligible.

Rural and urban classifications are based on Rural/Urban Commuting-Area taxonomy (RUCA-zip) developed by the University of Washington, Rural Health Research Center. 

The Minnesota Department of Education classifies school type.

• Elementary and combined schools include any public school with a combination of elementary grades kindergarten through 6, but may include up to grade 12.
• Middle and junior high schools include any public school with a combination of mid-grade levels ranging from grades 4 through 8.
• Secondary and senior high schools include any public school with a combination of upper grade levels ranging from grades 6 through 12.

Because the number of eligible students and total enrolled students changes year to year, it is best to compare eligibility rates over time. It is important to keep in mind that observed increases in free and reduced price lunch eligibility may be due to factors such as increased systematic identification of eligible children and changes in eligibility income guidelines.

Use caution when reporting this measure.  Free and reduced price lunch eligibility is highly correlated with child poverty, however it should not be confused with the actual percentage of students in poverty enrolled in a public school.

The United States Department of Agriculture sets the free and reduced price lunch (FRPL) eligibility criteria each year based on family size and household income.  The National Center for Education Statistics and federal health programs use FRPL eligibility as an alternative measure or indicator of the percentage of children within public schools from lower income households.

Overall child poverty and socioeconomic status is best assessed using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), which provides information on families with children under age 18 that are below the federal poverty level.  Establishing socioeconomic status is more complex and may include a range of family characteristics, such as parental education and occupation.

For more information on poverty and income in Minnesota: Poverty & Income on the MN Public Health Data Access portal.

Minnesota Department of Health Oral Health Program (2018).  Minnesota Department of Education Data Center Reports and Analytics, Student Data for Special Populations: Free and Reduced Price Lunch Eligibility.  Collected by the Minnesota Oral Health Statistics System.  St. Paul, Minnesota: MN Public Health Data Access Portal.  [Add URL] Retrieved month, year.

• National Center for Education Statistics, Reports & Publications
• Free or reduced price lunch: A proxy for poverty?  National Center for Education Statistics Blog, April 16, 2015.
• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Performance Information Management Service, Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Eligibility Data in EDFacts: A White Paper on Current Status and Potential Changes, Washington, D.C., 2012.

Please send questions or comments: health.oral@state.mn.us