A United States Entitlement Program is a Federal program or provision of law that establishes a legal obligation of the Federal government to provide payments to qualifying factions of people that meet criteria of the program. In short, programs are entitlements if they have eligibility requirements and have a legal obligation that involves making payments to the program; this is because they are part of the mandatory spending unit of the United States Federal government. Other programs that do not meet these requirements would be considered a simple source of funding.