Students with disabilities who get Supplemental Security Income and also hold a job will be able to set aside more of their pay next year. The Social Security Administration says the student earned income exclusion rises to $2,500 a month and $10,080 a year in 2027, up from $2,410 a month and $9,730 a year in 2026.

The new figures are posted on the agency’s student exclusion page, which describes the exclusion as covering a blind or disabled child who is a student regularly attending school, college or university. The increase is 3.6 percent, matching the cost-of-living adjustment.

How the student exclusion works

SSI is a needs-based payment, so earnings normally reduce it. The student exclusion lets some earnings go uncounted. In an SSA SSI spotlight, the agency says the provision allows a person who is under age 22 and regularly attending school to exclude earnings from income, and that it is applied before any other exclusion.

There are two caps, and both matter. A student can exclude no more than $2,500 in any month in 2027 and no more than $10,080 across the year. A student who earned $2,500 every month would use almost the whole yearly limit in four months, so a summer job followed by a school-year job can run into the annual cap.

This is where a family’s question becomes concrete. A household with a student under 22 who has a disability, gets SSI and has started working should compare monthly pay with the $2,500 cap, track the running total toward $10,080, and confirm school attendance with Social Security.

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Social Security takes questions at 1-800-772-1213, or 1-800-325-0778 for TTY, and local offices can also help. The agency says the amounts are usually adjusted each year for cost-of-living increases.

The yearly climb is steady. The spotlight lists $2,350 a month and $9,460 a year for January 2025, then $2,410 a month and $9,730 a year for January 2026. The 2027 step to $2,500 and $10,080 continues that pattern, and it gives a working student about $350 more room for the year than 2026 allowed.

The agency’s page shows how the new numbers are built. The 2026 amounts before rounding were $2,413.64 a month and $9,729.33 a year. Each rises with the 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment, then rounds to the nearest $10, which gives $2,500 and $10,080.

Who is covered, and how much school counts

The rule is specific about age and attendance. Under 22 is the age limit in SSA’s spotlight, and the student has to be taking courses and attending classes. At a college or university, that means at least 8 hours a week under a semester or quarter system. For grades 7 through 12, it is at least 12 hours a week.

A training course for employment counts at 12 hours a week, or 15 hours a week if the course involves shop practice. Home-schooled students in grades 7 through 12 can qualify at 12 hours a week if they follow the state’s home school law. Fewer hours are allowed for reasons beyond the student’s control, such as illness.

Homebound students with a disability may also qualify if they take a course from a school, college, university or government agency and have a home visitor or tutor who directs the studying.

The 2027 SSI changes around it

The student exclusion is one of several figures that move together. SSA’s October 14 announcement sets the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment at 3.6 percent and says increased SSI payments begin December 31, 2026.

The federal SSI payment for 2027 is $1,029 a month for an individual, according to SSA’s SSI amounts page. The agency’s 2027 fact sheet shows the student exclusion rising alongside it, with the monthly cap going from $2,410 to $2,500 and the yearly cap from $9,730 to $10,080.

The same fact sheet shows the individual SSI rate rising from $994 to $1,029 a month and the couple rate from $1,491 to $1,544. The SSI resource limits of $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple are unchanged for 2027.

The spotlight also points to other work incentives for people on SSI who are working. It names the Plan to Achieve Self-Support, work expense exclusions and continued Medicaid coverage.

The exclusion is a ceiling, not a payment. Earnings that stay under it are not counted against the SSI check, and the amount a student actually keeps depends on how many dollars were earned each month, not on the maximum. Pay above the caps counts as income like any other earnings, subject to the program’s other rules.

For families planning around the January change, the SSA page and the spotlight are the two documents to keep. They hold the amounts, the under-22 age rule and the attendance hours that decide whether the exclusion applies.

Working student on SSI heading into 2027?

A student who earns past the monthly or yearly cap, or who stops attending school enough hours, can see wages start to reduce a check that the household budgets around.

The SSI & Disability Action Kit covers the rules for working without losing benefits, in a part titled Working Without Losing Benefits. It also holds the 2026 SSI income and resource limits and an income and resource organizer for keeping a running total of what a student earns.

Get the SSI organizer for tracking a working student’s earnings against the limits →

More Financial Reading

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• 21 Ways Retirees Can Raise $1,000 Fast Without a Job

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.