Fall 2018 Survey.
ALMOST 22,000 STUDENTS AT
19 CAMPUSES PARTICIPATED.
THE RESULTS INDICATE:
• 48% of respondents were
food insecure in the prior
30 days,
• 55% of respondents were
housing insecure in the
previous year,
• 14% of respondents were
homeless in the previous
year.
Now in its fifth year, the #RealCollege survey is the nation’s largest, longest-running annual assessment of basic needs insecurity among college students. In the absence of any federal data on the subject, the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice created the survey to evaluate access to affordable food and housing among college students. This report describes the results of the #RealCollege survey administered in the fall of 2019 at 227 two- and four-year institutions across the United States. It also considers the cumulative evidence on campus basic needs insecurity amassed over five surveys from 2015 to 2019. The lessons the Hope Center has learned are drawn from over 330,000 students attending 411 colleges and universities.
In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic struck American higher education.
Colleges closed campuses, students lost jobs, and emergency resources failed
to meet the demands caused by the crisis. This report examines the pandemic’s
impact on students, from their basic needs security to their well-being, as
indicated by employment status, academic engagement, and mental health.
The data come from an electronic survey completed by 38,602 students
attending 54 colleges and universities in 26 states, including 39 two-year
colleges and 15 four-year colleges and universities.
The #RealCollege survey is the nation’s largest annual
assessment of basic needs security among college
students. The survey, which specifically evaluates
access to affordable food and housing, began in 2015
under the Wisconsin HOPE Lab. This report describes
the results of the #RealCollege survey administered at
nearly half of the schools in the California Community
College system in the fall of 2016 and 2018.
ALMOST 40,000 STUDENTS
AT 57 CALIFORNIA
COMMUNITY COLLEGES
PARTICIPATED. THE
RESULTS INDICATE:
• 50% of respondents
were food insecure in
the prior 30 days,
• 60% of respondents
were housing insecure in
the previous year,
• 19% of respondents were
homeless in the previous
year.
Rates of basic needs insecurity vary by region and
by institution. The highest incidence of basic needs
insecurity is found in the Northern Coastal, Northern
Inland, and Greater Sacramento regions of California.
In contrast, rates of basic needs insecurity are far
lower, albeit still substantial, in the South Central
region of the state, which includes Santa Barbara.
Rates of basic needs insecurity are higher for marginalized
students, including African Americans, students
identifying as LGBTQ, and students considered
independent from their parents or guardians for
financial aid purposes. Students who have served in
the military, former foster youth, and formerly incarcerated
students are all at greater risk of basic needs
insecurity. Working during college is not associated
with a lower risk of basic needs insecurity, and
neither is receiving the federal Pell Grant; the latter is
associated with higher rates of basic needs insecurity.
n the fall of 2019, nearly 550 instructional staff members from four community colleges and oneuniversity responded to a pilot #RealCollege survey designed specifically for faculty and staffmembers. This report describes the results of that pilot survey examining basic needs insecurityamong educators (i.e., faculty members and instructors) in higher education.
At least one in five of today’s college students is parenting a child while enrolled in classes. Ifthese parenting students complete their degrees, both they and their children could expectimproved social, economic, and health outcomes. Nevertheless, degree attainment rates amongparenting students are low, and evidence about their experiences—which is critical to improvingpolicy and practice regarding parenting students—is sparse.In 2019, the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice began using our tools tofill that gap. Specifically, we added new questions to our fifth annual #RealCollege survey,asking parenting students at 171 two-year institutions and 56 four-year institutions about theirexperiences with basic needs insecurity, childcare, depression and anxiety, and campus and socialsupports
While the COVID-19 pandemic affected mental health and increased food insecurity across the general population, less is known about the virus’s impact on college students. A fall 2020 survey of more than 100,000 students at 202 colleges and universities in 42 states reveals sociodemographic variation in self-reported infections, as well as associations between self-reported infection and food insecurity and mental health. We find that 7% of students self-reported a COVID-19 infection, with sizable differences by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parenting status, and student athlete status. Students who self-reported COVID-19 infections were more likely to experience food insecurity, anxiety, and depression. Implications for higher education institutions, policy makers, and students are discussed.
This report describes program implementation and impact of one of the nation’s first food
scholarship programs: the Houston Food Scholarship (HFS), a partnership between Houston
Community College and the Houston Food Bank. The food scholarship was first distributed in
January 2018, and this report examines its early stages, as well as rigorously estimating impacts
through spring 2019.