Benefits Highlights

The student earned income exclusion (SEIE) is a work incentive that allows certain SSI recipients who are under age 22 and regularly attending school to exclude a specified amount of gross earned income per month up to a maximum annual exclusion. The student earned income exclusion (SEIE) decreases the amount of countable earned income, thus permitting SSI recipients to keep more of the SSI check when they work. In many cases, the SEIE allows students to test their ability to work without experiencing any reduction in the SSI check at all.

The SEIE is applied to a student's gross earnings before any other allowable exclusions. In 2004, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will exclude all gross earnings up to a maximum of $1,370 per month until the full annual exclusion of $5,520 is exhausted or the individual is no longer a "student child". The annual SEIE maximum applies to the true calendar year that begins in January and ends in December. It is not possible to apportion the amount of the SEIE applied in a given month. All earnings received in a month up to the current monthly maximum will be excluded as long as the annual maximum has not been reached. As of January of 2001, SEIE amounts are indexed annually, meaning they go up (or at least remain the same) each year in January. Past monthly and annual amounts are shown below: