May a student on SSI receive a scholarship and remain on SSI?

I recently received a question from a student attending a San Francisco bay area university asking whether a receipt of a scholarship would prevent him from collecting SSI.  The answer is “no,”  as long as the scholarship is used (or set aside) for educational expenses to be used within nine months from receipt.    For more information on other items that are not counted as resources, have a look at my colleague, Tomasz Stasiuk’s blog post today on, “Do I qualify financially for SSI?”
While focusing on students,  it is also important to be aware that a disabled or blind student under the age of 22 who is regularly attending school, college, or vocational training may have limited earnings that are not counted against ongoing SSI benefits.  In 2009, a student may earn up to $1640 per month and no more than $6,600 in the year.   For more information, you may look at Social Security’s fact sheet, “SSI Spotlight on Student Earned Income Exclusion 2009 edition.”