Percentage of students receiving free and subsidized school meals as of the end of the reporting period.
Organizations should footnote all assumptions used. See usage guidance for further information.
This metric is intended to capture the percentage of students at a school receiving free or reduced-price school meals funded, not by the organization itself, but rather by a third-party institution or program (such as a government program). Therefore, the students are not considered clients receiving free products from the organization.
Both full- and part-time students should be included in this calculation, if applicable, with each discrete student counted once regardless of the number of courses taken.
This metric is frequently used as a proxy of poverty at the school level. For example, a financial institution that provides a loan to a school may seek to gauge the income level of the targeted stakeholders of its loan by requiring the school receiving the loan to report this metric. Organizations are also encouraged to report metrics such as School Enrollment: Poor (PI7254), School Enrollment: Very Poor (PI5583), or School Enrollment: Low Income (PI2173) if they have additional demographic details available.
Organizations operating in the United States can refer to the following sources for additional information on free and reduced-price meal programs and eligibility:
Organizations that wish to report on the number of subsidized or free school meals provided (both directly and indirectly by other organizations) can use the metric School Meals (PI6971).
June 2022 - IRIS v5.3 Released (current version)
Immaterial change. Minor revisions to definition and usage guidance for clarity.
May 2021 - IRIS v5.2 Released
Immaterial change. Minor revision to calculation language and usage guidance for clarity.
January 2020 - IRIS v5.1 Released
No change.
May 2019 - IRIS v5.0 Released
Immaterial change. Usage guidance updated to clarify "end beneficiaries" as "targeted stakeholders."
March 2016 - IRIS v4.0 Released
New metric. Percent Students Receiving Free and Subsidized School Meals (PI4555) was developed via the IRIS Taxonomy Group.
IRIS Metrics Work Better in Sets
To use IRIS metrics—and the resulting data—to understand impact performance, IRIS metrics should be used and analyzed in generally accepted sets and according to well-defined objectives. IRIS+ gives you access to generally accepted Core Metrics Sets aligned to common Impact Themes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).