Needs Insecurity, College Affordability, College Students: Research Articles and Reports

Food security means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.

ERS plays a leading role in Federal research on food security and food security measurement in U.S. households and communities and provides data access and technical support to social science scholars to facilitate their research on food security.

Full Report

Hunger On Campus: The Challenge of Food Insecurity for College Students
October 2016
In order to expand the understanding of campus food insecurity, the coordinators of this report set out to implement the broadest study on this issue to date by surveying students across a wide range of regions and school types. In doing so, the goal was to foster a more expansive understanding of campus food insecurity and its impact on students, while also bringing national attention to this critical issue.

This is the largest national survey assessing the basic needs security of university . It is the HOPE Lab’s 3rd national survey; the other two focused on community colleges. This year we report on 43,000 students at 66 institutions in 20 states and the District of Columbia. That includes over 20,000students at 35 4-year colleges and universities, as well as students at community colleges

Studies of basic needs insecurity among college students, once rare, have become increasingly
common as
public awareness of the problem has grown. The HOPE Lab compiles an
annotated list of
these studies
and adds to it each month. Prior to 20
11, only two studies that we are aware of measured
food or housing insecurity among U.S. postsecondary populations.
8
Since that time, more than 20
studies have been released.
9
Given the number of studies, the many different types of institutions,
locations, and study designs, estimates of food and housing insecurity range widely for both community
colleges and 4-year colleges.

Guided by the findings of an in-depth University of California survey, President Janet Napolitano in July 2016 approved $3.3 million in new funding over the next two years to help students regularly access nutritious food on campus and off.

The funding, which includes $151,000 for each of UC’s 10 campuses, is in addition to the $75,000 per campus that Napolitano allocated in 2015 to address the immediate challenges of ensuring that students have ready access to nutritious food, and reflects the UC Global Food Initiative goal of promoting a nutritious, sustainable food supply.

Food Insecurity at CUNY: Results from a Survey of CUNY Undergraduate Students. April 2011. A Report from: The Campaign for a Healthy CUNY