Connecticut benefits for college students
What Connecticut students can get beyond financial aid: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance, HUSKY Health (HUSKY D for adults without minor children) health coverage, child care help, phone and internet discounts and tax credits, with each program's own rules and application. Each section links to the full rules.
Checked against official sources October 11, 2026. Some details were still changing when we checked, so confirm on the official page.
Food assistance: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Connecticut's name for SNAP, run by Connecticut Department of Social Services. If you are enrolled at least half-time, you need a student exemption to qualify, such as working 20 hours a week, work-study or caring for a young child. If you are enrolled less than half-time, the student rule does not apply and only the regular SNAP rules do. See every exemption →
Apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) · Connecticut's page for students
Health coverage: HUSKY Health (HUSKY D for adults without minor children)
Connecticut has expanded Medicaid, so adults with low incomes, students included, can qualify based on income. All your health coverage options →
Apply for HUSKY Health (HUSKY D for adults without minor children)
Child care help: Care 4 Kids
Going to college or training counts as an approved activity in this state. Education and training count on their own, with no extra work requirement and no minimum hours. Counted programs: adult high school/GED, certificate programs, one-year diplomas, two-year and four-year degrees. But since March 1, 2023 new applicants who are working, in higher education or in workforce development go on an enrollment list and are invited off as spaces open; families on TFA cash assistance (working or in a Jobs First activity), former TFA families within 5 years, and teen parents 18-19 in high school are processed right away.
Phone and internet: Lifeline
We found no extra state Lifeline discount on Connecticut's official pages, so the federal discount applies. Who qualifies →
Taxes
A refundable state credit that mirrors the federal EITC for full-year Connecticut residents who qualify for the federal credit. Most Connecticut taxpayers can file their state return free online through myconneCT, the Department of Revenue Services portal.
Connecticut Earned Income Tax Credit (CT EITC) · Free state filing · Federal education tax credits → · Free federal filing →
Keep looking
We explain programs; Connecticut's agencies decide who gets them. Spot something wrong? Tell us.