Document Tag: food insecurity

The Struggle Is Real: A Systematic Review of Food Insecurity on Postsecondary Education Campuses (2017)

Seventeen peer-reviewed studies and 41 sources of gray literature were identified (out of 11,476 titles). All studies were cross-sectional. Rates of FI were high among students, with average rates across the gray and peer-reviewed literature of 35% and 42%, respectively. FI was consistently associated with financial independence, poor health, and adverse academic outcomes. Suggested solutions to address food security among postsecondary institutions addressed all areas of the socioecologic model, but the solutions most practiced included those in the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels.

FI is a major public health problem among postsecondary education students. Studies are needed to assess the long-term influence of FI among this vulnerable population. More research is needed on the effectiveness of FI interventions.

Basic Needs Insecurities among College Students at Minority-Serving Institutions (2022)

Almost two-thirds of students at HBCUs, PBIs, and HSIs had experienced basic needs insecurities (i.e., food insecurity, housing insecurity, or homelessness) while in college. • Nearly half (44 percent) of surveyed students at participating minorityserving institutions were food insecure. • Eleven percent had faced all three forms of basic needs insecurity within the past year (from October/November 2020 to October/November 2021). • Respondents with basic needs insecurities were more likely to be female, identify as a first-generation student, and indicate they were likely suffering from anxiety and/or depressed mood.

The State of Food Security at CUNY in 2020 (2020)

In this report, we examine the prevalence and distribution of food insecurity at CUNY at the start of 2020. We also describe and assess the variety of programs, policies and services CUNY and its partners have developed to reduce food insecurity and suggest options for further reducing food insecurity in the coming years. Our goal is to provide the key constituencies at CUNY—its leaders, faculty and staff, students, and the City and State elected officials who fund CUNY—with the evidence they need to make informed decisions about promoting food security and academic success at CUNY. At the end of the report, we provide a brief overview of preliminary evidence on how the COVID-19 epidemic has affected food security at CUNY and the university’s options for reducing it.

Food Insecurity and Homelessness in American Higher Education: An Overview of New Nationally Representative Estimates (2023)

UPDATE: New version amended with additional table (July 30, 2023)

This memo offers new nationally representative estimates of food insecurity and homelessness affecting the nation’s college students, obtained from the just-released National Postsecondary Student Aid Study: 2020 (NPSAS), and compares them to estimates from my prior research studies conducted at The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.

The results confirm that a sizable number of the nation’s college students—including graduate students—are food insecure and some are homeless. As long suspected, the rate is higher for college students than for the broader public. Moreover, we can now see that basic needs insecurity is a problem at every type of college and university and cuts across student demographics and even traditional measures of income and financial need.

● 23% of undergraduates and 12% of graduate students experienced food insecurity.
● 8% of undergraduates and 5% of graduate students experienced homelessness.
● Basic needs insecurity affects 35% of Black/African American students, 30% of Native American students, and 25% of Hispanic students.
● For-profit colleges and universities and Historically Black Colleges and Universities have the highest rates of basic needs insecurity among their students.

The coalition of institutions willing to assess and address these problems had higher rates of the challenges— now that all institutions are included the averages are lower, yet still substantial. We owe a debt of gratitude to those brave institutions that led the way and convinced the federal government to count what matters most to students – the security of their basic needs.