SSR 67-49: SECTION 202(d). -- CHILD'S INSURANCE BENEFITS -- "FULL-TIME STUDENT" -- STUDENT PAID WHILE ATTENDING TECHNICAL SCHOOL
SSR 67-49
- Where the 20-year-old child of an insured worker is enrolled on a full-time basis in a school which is accredited by a nationally-recognized accrediting agency and thus is an "educational institution" for social security purposes; where his curriculum includes in addition to classroom work, in-service training; and while in attendance he receives a stipend, held, the child is a "full-time student" under a work-study program of the school, and the exclusion in section 202(d)(8)(A) of the Act (under which a student paid by his employer while attending school at the request or pursuant to a requirement of the employer cannot be considered a "full-time student") is not applicable and does not preclude his entitlement to child's insurance benefits.
C, age 20, enrolled September 8, 1964, as a trainee in the School of X-Ray Technology, a training facility operated by Y Hospital. This school is approved by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association, which is a nationally-recognized accrediting agency. The course lasts 2 years and the schedule includes classroom work plus in- service training totalling approximately 40 hours each week. Upon successful completion of the course, the student receives a certificate, and is eligible to take a statewide written examination to become a licensed X-ray technician.
While the student is in training, he is paid by the hospital at the following rates: for the first 6 months, he receives $25 each month; for the next 6 months, $50 each month; for the third 6 months, $100 each month; and for the last 6 months, $150 each month.
On September 10, 1965, C filed application for child's insurance benefits on the earnings record of his deceased father.
Section 202(d)(1) of the Act as amended by P.L. 89-97 on July 30, 1965, provides in pertinent part that a child of an individual who died a fully or currently insured individual shall be entitled to child's insurance benefits if such child has filed application, at the time of applications is unmarried, is a "full-time student" who has not attained the age of 22, and if he was dependent upon the insured individual at the time of his death. The payment of benefits to a child-student is effective no earlier than January 1965, on the basis of an application filed in or after July 1965.
A "full-time student," as defined in section 202(d)(8)(A) of the Act,
- * * * is an individual who is in full-time attendance as a student at an educational institution, as determined by the Secretary * * * in the light of the standards and practices of the institutions involved, except that no individual shall be considered a "full-time student" if he is paid by his employer while attending an educational institution at the request, or pursuant to a requirement, of his employer. (Emphasis supplied.)
Section 202(d)(8) of the Act further provides, in pertinent part, that:
- (C) An "educational institution" is * * * (ii) a school or college or university which has been approved by a State or accredited by a State-recognized or nationally-recognized accrediting agency or body * * *.
Since the School of X-Ray Technology is approved by a nationally-recognized accrediting agency (the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association), it is an "educational institution" within the meaning of section 202(d)(8)(C)(ii), supra.
Thus, since C is in full-time attendance as a student at an educational institution, and meets all other requirements for child's insurance benefits, the question to be resolved is whether the definition in section 202(d)(8)(A) of the Act precludes him from being a "full-time student" because he is paid while he is in training. If C is so precluded by such definition, he cannot be entitled to child's insurance benefits.
At the time C filed his application for benefits (September 1965) he was in the third phase of his training and consequently received $100 per month. Although he was paid for services performed under conditions similarly found in an employment relationship, it is the school in which he is enrolled, and not an employer, that requires him to perform the services as an integral part of the school's training program. Thus, the situation here is the converse of that contemplated in the exclusion in section 202(d)(8)(A), which applies where the student "is paid by his employer while attending school at the request, or pursuant to a requirement, of his employer." Consequently, where, as here, the student's employment is integrated with his training in a work-study program required by the school, the exclusion is not applicable.
Accordingly, it is held that C is a "full-time student" and, therefore, is entitled to child's insurance benefits beginning with January 1965.
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