The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a federal program that helps low-income households afford food and basic necessities. Eligibility is based on household income and assets and often has work requirements for able-bodied adults.
SNAP is a critical support system for college students and their families’ food security and academic success, and its need was exemplified especially when the government was shut down. It highlighted the necessity for higher education institutions to provide their students resources other than the ones provided by the government for their well-being.
IC is fighting the issue of student food insecurity with on-campus resources, such as Prunty’s Pantry. The on-campus food pantry is located on the first floor of the Campus Center in Egbert Hall and is open to all students, staff and faculty. The Center for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging has also put together a consolidated list of campus resources, like the Employee Meal Swipe Fund and the Swipe Out Hunger program.
Colleges and universities should be modeling IC’s efforts to protect and expand student access to food pantries, and coordinate food access with campus resources to improve overall student well-being.
In order to receive benefits, students enrolled at least half-time must meet at least one of the exemptions outlined in the Certification of Eligible Households. Some of the criteria include that students must be under age 17 or over 50, physically or mentally unfit or employed for a minimum of 20 hours per week.
While college students are often painted as self-sufficient, many must juggle work, classes, housing payments and even sometimes childcare. The benefit program has garnered attention as one of the main strategies to reduce student food insecurity and improve college completion.
Many students on SNAP balance just as much as their adult counterparts, and yet do not receive the same support. Unlike general low-income adults, college students are placed in a specialized category in SNAP. Students must jump over hurdles, i.e. meet increasingly specific criteria, in order to receive the same benefits their adult counterparts receive.
Even after qualifying for benefits, the Government Accountability Office estimates that nearly 60% of potentially eligible students are not receiving SNAP benefits due to reasons like a lack of awareness and the stigmas surrounding food insecurity and government benefits. This means that colleges and universities need to be filling this gap in order to maintain students’ well-being. Though, it is ultimately the government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have access to food.
Campus administrators from not only IC, but universities and colleges around the country need to mobilize to support their food insecure students. They should be expanding on-campus resources like Prunty’s Pantry and working with state SNAP agencies to support students by providing assistance with things like applications and by advocating for students long-term.
