The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) supports students, families, and schools. Find your state’s CEP fact sheet in the table below.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado
Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii
Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky
Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota
Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire
New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio
Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota
Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington
West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

CEP is a win for students, families, and schools.

CEP gives all students access to the nutritious school breakfasts and lunches they need to be well-nourished and ready to learn, while reducing the stigma often present in school cafeterias when school have to track students’ eligibility for free, reduced-price, and paid meals. When students have access to free meals at school, families have lower grocery bills and more money in their household budgets to help make ends meet.

Despite its undeniable benefits, some lawmakers want to weaken community eligibility during the 2025 budget reconciliation. Their proposal would force more than 24,000 schools nationwide, serving more than 12 million children, to drop CEP. Now is the time to urge Congress to protect CEP, not weaken it.