Survivor benefits

There are no Social Security benefits for children in college who are not disabled. Children of deceased, retired or disabled parents do receive Social Security benefits. However, they end after age 18, or at the end of the 12th grade, whichever occurs first. This has been the case since 1981 when Congress passed the 1981 Reconciliation Act Repeal of Social Security. That was the beginning of the end of what had come to be thought of as "college student benefits." Beginning in 1982, it took until 1985 to phase out all these payments. If you were not enrolled in a post-secondary school by May 1982, you could no longer receive benefits.