The Prevalence of Food Insecurity on College Campuses

Rod and his twin sister Maria are the first in their family to go to college. Rod received a full scholarship to play baseball with a Division I school in the South. Maria attends a local 4-year college 60 miles from their home in the Northeast. One of them will experience a growing trend: food insecurity on college campuses.
 

Food Insecurity Among College Students

College often is seen as a happy, productive, and growth-oriented period in students’ lives. For many, that is the reality. But food insecurity among college students can make it a challenging time for many. Food insecurity is about quantity—not having enough food to eat to sustain daily life. As a scholarship baseball player, Rod has ready access to food, especially enjoyable and familiar, nutritious selections. Maria, who is paying for college herself, prioritizes her limited funds: tuition, housing, and books first. She barely gets by on limited and lower cost food she may be able to afford.  This lack of access and affordability of consistent nutritious foods interrupts her mood, focus, learning, social engagement, and overall health and well-being. She is just one of the students experiencing food insecurity in colleges across the country.
 

How Many College Students Experience Food Insecurity?

Maria is not alone. College campuses report food insecurity at four times the national average of the general population.

College campuses around the country — public, private, 2-year, 4-year, undergraduate, and graduate — often reflect diversity across their student population, including age, socioeconomic, and family-life status.

A large percentage of the student population across all institutions has parents who did not hold a bachelor’s degree, making them first-generation college students like Maria and Rod. Adults who did not attend college right after high school are now choosing different higher-learning paths, in both 2- and 4-year institutions.

Risk factors for a high rate of food insecurity include:

• coming from a lower-income household
• being a first-generation student
• being from a racial/ethnic minority group
• being older than the traditional college student
• having a disability
• being part of the LGBTQ+ community
   

How Does Food Insecurity Affect College Students

College students who experience food insecurity often have challenges that are significant enough to reduce their likelihood of graduating by 42%. These students receive lower grades, have higher rates of depression, and have poorer health compared with their peers who do not experience food insecurity.

• Decreased class attendance: more than 50% of students who experience food insecurity or housing instability say it has caused them to miss class or be unable to buy at least one required textbook, while 25% say they have dropped a class because of food insecurity or housing instability.
• Lower grade point average (GPA): a survey of community college students showed those experiencing food insecurity were more likely to have a lower GPA (2.0 to 2.49) versus a high GPA (3.5 to 4.0).
• Increased mental health concerns: college students experiencing food insecurity have reported higher levels of stress, worse sleep habits, more disordered eating habits, and more feelings of isolation and lack of belonging than their peers who do not experience food insecurity.
   

Ways to Reduce Food Insecurity Among College Students

Increasing consistent access to nutritious food will help improve health and well-being on college campuses. Ways to achieve this include:

• Establish on-campus food pantries. To be the most successful, the supply of food into the pantries themselves must be consistent all year, with an emphasis on securing high-value, nutritional selections like fresh fruit and vegetables. Creating on-campus gardens can provide fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement other pantry items.
• Make use of existing food programs. Advocate for policies making it easier for college students to apply for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or grants from foundations to cover food costs for those experiencing food insecurity.

As the makeup and needs of college student populations continue to evolve, finding ways to support students experiencing food insecurity becomes more important. Interventions and new programs are needed to expand consistent access to nutritious food. Too many students with the opportunity to attend college, like Maria, may not be able to reach their fullest potential because of the physical and emotional stress associated with experiencing food insecurity.