Hilltop, the grocery market at Poly Canyon Village, is currently not accepting Electronic Benefits Transfer.
When Poly Canyon Village Market was rebranded to Hilltop, Cal Poly Partners needed to reapply to continue accepting EBT at Hilltop, according to Russell Monteath, the director of commercial services for Cal Poly Partners.
Cal Poly Partners submitted an application to the US Department of Agriculture on July 7, 2025. They have recently heard from the USDA, after waiting for a while, and are hoping to accept EBT at the start of spring quarter.
“I know hearing from a lot of students on campus, it is really needed and wanted on campus, especially at Hilltop, so we are doing everything we possibly can to make sure we get it,” Monteath said
Monteath said they rebranded to Hilltop after hearing student feedback about the accessible availability of groceries and the prices. He said some of the prices were not matching off-campus grocery store prices. The biggest focus was to bring groceries on campus and to make sure prices matched outside groceries.
“Anytime there’s a name change or whatnot, we just wanted students to really realize there was a different idea, different concept there,” Monteath said.
However, some students expressed the effects not accepting EBT at Hilltop has had on them.
Mechanical engineering sophomore Abdelrahman Shehata went to Hilltop and asked if they accepted EBT and said it was unfortunate when they said they did not. Shehata usually goes to Campus Market because they accept EBT.
Campus Market, Grand Avenue Market and the University Union Market currently accept EBT, according to Monteath.
Shehata usually shops at Ralphs but cannot drive his car right now, so his only option is to shop on campus. He said EBT gives him the flexibility to buy healthier food for himself because he does not have to worry as much about money.
Biomedical engineering sophomore Annelise Oka lives in Poly Canyon Village but only shops at Hilltop for emergencies. Oka has EBT and said it’s frustrating.
Oka lives in Buena Vista, which is right about the market.
“Everytime I think ‘oh I’m out of eggs or I’m out of milk, it invariably crosses my mind that ‘oh I could just pop downstairs and grab what I need,’” Oka said. “But then at the same time, I’m thinking that I don’t want to put money from my account when I have no income, and I really should stick to using EBT for my food expenses.”
Oka said she cannot justify going to Hilltop too often because of the prices and not accepting EBT. She said in her experience, the prices are higher than shopping at non-campus grocery stores.
“I feel like they probably should have arranged for this a lot earlier,” Oka said. “It feels like very much like, ‘Why would you open up an overpriced campus grocery store, when a larger portion of the students are on EBT.’”
Monteath said he thinks a lot of students would like to see EBT at Hilltop. He said he tells students they’re working on it when asked, but he wishes he could make the process faster. Luckily, he said he expects they can begin offering it soon.
“We’re doing everything we possibly can to ultimately be able to accept EBT there,” Monteath said.