Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of colleges have been working to help students who are struggling to afford food and housing, initiatives made possible by federal pandemic relief funds. However, as those pandemic relief funds come to an end later this month, some community colleges and public universities are looking for ways to maintain access and funding for basic needs programs, Chalkbeat Colorado reports.
These efforts come at a time when room and board prices have increased and the share of students lacking essential resources like food and housing has grown, both of which can negatively impact students’ retention and completion rates. In May, Fall 2023 data from Trellis Strategies showed that 58% of surveyed students had experienced food insecurity, housing insecurity, or homelessness in the 12 months before or since starting college. In June, more than half of the 1,500 students surveyed by Ellucian in March 2024 reported having to choose between making college payments and basic needs, and 59% reported considering dropping out because of financial stress.
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Addressing food insecurity
In 2020, about 3.8 million students, or 23% of college students, faced food insecurity, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released this summer. Most of those students (2.2 million) reported very low food security, meaning they frequently ate less than they should or skipped meals because they could not afford to buy food. The share of students with food insecurity has grown since then, according to Mark Huelsman, the director of policy and advocacy at The Hope Center at Temple University.
“This has always been a persistent problem in higher education,” Huelsman tells Chalkbeat Colorado. “The fact that we’re starting to see campuses create ecosystems of support for students, hopefully that means more students will be able to take advantage.”
Public colleges have been exploring ways to increase access to food for students struggling with hunger. In Colorado, a mobile market visits Community College of Aurora’s (CCA) two campuses twice a month. CCA pays about $3,000 for the food per visit, when the market feeds an average of 150 students and offers free foods such as potatoes, carrots, canned goods, and refrigerated meat. The school does not place limits on how much food students can take, and often that food feeds not only the students but also their families.
Other colleges, including University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, and Fort Lewis College, are using food pantries to both feed students and to help students figure out if they qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest nutritional program. CCA also is working to build awareness about available resources for students facing food insecurity and helps connect students to SNAP.
The Endow-a-Bed program
In California, community colleges are looking for new ways to address students’ housing needs, LAist reports. A 2019 survey found that 16% of the state’s community college students were homeless, and 60% had experienced housing insecurity. To support students, California funded a grant program in 2021 for the construction of new, below market rate student housing. Sierra College, a public community college in Rocklin, California, is one of the schools that received an $80 million grant. The school is now using those funds to build a new dorm for 350 students starting next fall. The dorm will be open all year for students who are unable to find housing during breaks and holidays. The median rent in Rocklin is $2,900 as of Sept. 20; students will pay $450 per month to live in the new dorm.
For students who will still struggle to afford those rates, the Sierra College Foundation—the school’s nonprofit organization aiming to reduce financial barriers to student success—created the Endow-a-Bed program in hopes of covering the cost of 10 students’ room and board in perpetuity. To date, local community members and businesses have endowed seven beds, which requires a minimum gift of $250,000 to fund each bed in perpetuity. Officials hope Endow-a-Bed can be a model for other colleges.
“If this would take off,” Sonbol Aliabadi, executive director of the Sierra College Foundation, told LAist, “I would be so thrilled.”