Income

• The Social Security Agency does not consider money acquired through loans to be part of your income. Therefore, if you get student loans through a financial institution, government agency or even from a friend or relative, the money you receive will have no impact on your SSI check in the month that you receive the loan. You must enter into a valid loan agreement, which is enforceable under state law, for the Social Security Agency to consider the money that you receive as loan funds. A valid loan agreement can be oral or in writing.
  
  

Resource Limit

• If you receive a student loan but do not immediately use all of the funds from the loan, you may exceed your SSI resource limit and affect your SSI eligibility. While student loans do not count towards your income, any funds from a loan that you do not spend within the month that you receive the loan are considered a financial resource. If the value of your resources, which includes cash, property, land and vehicles, is more than $3,000, you are no longer eligible for SSI benefits. Therefore, you must spend your student loan funds on education and other expenses as soon as possible after receipt to avoid risking your SSI eligibility.
  
  

Non-loan Student Funding

• As a student, you may also receive non-loan educational funding, such as scholarships, grants, fellowships or gifts. Like student loans, these funding tools are not considered income, but may be counted toward your SSI resource limit. With these funding tools, though, you can hold funds for up to nine months before the Social Security Agency will consider them part of your countable resources.
  
  

Employment Income

• If you are younger than 22 and regularly attending school, you can earn employment income of up to $1,640 per month and up to $6,600 per year, as of 2011, without affecting your SSI benefits. Any earnings above these amounts will be counted towards your income and may make you ineligible for SSI benefits.