Report on food insecurity on college campuses shows 2/3 of eligible students did not get assistance

WASHINGTON — With college being so expensive, many students don’t have enough money left over to pay for food.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office is highlighting the growing problem of food insecurity on college campuses, and the trouble students have accessing assistance.

Channel 2 Washington Correspondent Nicole D’Antonio reviewed the report and how it shows 3.3 million students were eligible for food assistance in 2020.

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“We found that about 59% of food insecure students who were potentially eligible for SNAP didn’t report receiving benefits,” the GAO said.

Now there are efforts underway on Capitol Hill to close the hunger gap and make it easier for college students to access these resources so they can focus on academic success.

The GAO report shows that from tuition to books to housing, the high costs of higher education are impacting students’ ability to buy food.

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“Too many of them are falling behind in their studies because they’re unable to get the food resources,” Vincent Hall, Feeding America, told Channel 2 Action News.

About two-thirds of the more than 3.3 million college students eligible for the assistance in 2020 never received or accessed it.

The same GAO report found that almost 25% of all college students experienced food insecurity, or went hungry, in 2020.

“The statistics are really compelling. There’s a huge gap between what programs are offered by the government, what food banks can do and what college students are actually receiving,” Hall said.

Over the years, advocates have pushed Congress to make the food assistance program, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, easier for students to access.

They say the current enrollment process is confusing, outdated and can actually be expensive.

Now, lawmakers are working to update the Farm Bill, which is what manages the requirements of SNAP and other social safety net programs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“The current laws around SNAP are dated back to a time when it was believed that anyone who went to college was going to be provided for by the college,” Hall said. “And that simply isn’t true.”

Advocates said they hope that by updating the enrollment process, it’ll make it easier for students to use the program and get the food they need.

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