Check your bank account!
New stimulus checks started going out last week.
And most of the rest will be going out this week.
Consumer reporter John Matarese has some very good news for college and high school students this time around, so you don't waste your money.
One of the biggest complaints about last year’s stimulus checks was that college students and even some high school students did not qualify.
But this time, those rules finally are going to change.
College students now are not just celebrating spring.
Savannah Burhanny's celebrating the rollout of stimulus checks.
"I'm excited,” she said. “I hope to get it so I can pay for my college next year with my stimulus check."
For the first time, Burhanny now qualifies for a $1,400 check.
With the first two rounds of checks, it didn’t matter if you were struggling to pay your own way through college.
As long as you were claimed as a dependent, and were age 17 to 21, no stimulus for you.
"This summer, a lot of us lost jobs and we were all struggling too,” Burhanny said. “Just because we are dependents doesn’t mean we have struggles."
Rachel Dorsey and her friend, Ben Menoni, were furious being left out last year.
"I think it's a little ridiculous,” Menoni said. “A lot of us do have expenses of our own, and our parents aren't always able to help us out with that."
This time, students 17 and older who are claimed as dependents will qualify for $1,400.
But before you order pizza, there are two catches:
- The money goes to mom and dad, not you.
- And if they earn more than $160,000 a year combined, you still won't qualify no matter how broke you feel.
This newest stimulus package does not include student loan forgiveness.
But there is a chance that could happen later this year.
As always, don’t waste your money.
