Struggling with the basics: food and housing insecurity among college students across twenty-two colleges and universities

Objectives To quantify the number and type of students failing to secure basic needs. Participants Students attending 22 postsecondary schools in the United States in Fall 2019. Methods The Adult Food Security Module and part of the #RealCollege Survey were used to measure food and housing insecurity, respectively. Logistic and linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between selected factors and basic needs insecurities. Results Participants (n = 22,153) were classified as 44.1% and 52.3% food insecure and housing insecure, respectively. Homeless students or those who experienced childhood food insecurity were at the greatest odds of college food insecurity. Year in school was the largest contributor to being housing insecure, with PhD or EdD students being 1,157% more likely to experience housing insecurity compared to freshmen. Conclusions High prevalence of basic needs insecurities remain. Current campus initiatives may be insufficient, calling for a more holistic approach at the campus, state, and national levels.

Automated summary

The study aims to assess the number and type of students failing to secure basic needs. The results indicate a high prevalence of food and housing insecurities among students, with homeless students or those who experienced childhood food insecurity being at the greatest risk of college food insecurity. Additionally, the year in school was found to be the largest contributor to housing insecurity. Therefore, a more holistic approach is needed to address these issues.