Food and Housing Insecurity Among College Students: A Pilot Study

Background and Purpose: Low-income and homeless college students are believed to have significantly lower degree completion rates than their higher income and non-homeless counterparts. While the estimated number of college students experiencing food and/or housing insecurity or homelessness in the United States is believed to be on the rise, current literature is limited and just developing. Current prevalence estimates are typically based on student-completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms in which applicants may indicate if they are homeless. For a myriad of reasons (e.g., stigma, not all students complete FAFSAs, homelessness defined narrowly, many students do not consider themselves "homeless"), these estimates are believed to represent a gross undercount. At the study institution, the most recent estimate of student homelessness was drawn from the AY15/16 FAFSA applications of 7,725 students, 11 (<1%) of which indicated that they had been homeless or were at risk of homelessness. The purpose of the current pilot study was to assess the prevalence and types of food and housing challenges facing students.

Methods: A 35-item on-line survey was distributed to a random sample of 3,000 currently enrolled adult degree-seeking students at the University of Alaska Anchorage by the Institution's Office of Student Affairs. The survey included questions asking participating students the following: a) demographic and education characteristics; b) food insecurity (i.e., multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake); c) housing insecurity (i.e., high housing costs in proportion to income, poor housing quality, unstable neighborhoods, overcrowding, or homelessness); and d) homelessness (i.e., lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence). Collected data were analyzed utilizing SPSS-22.

Results: A total of 160 students ranging in age from 18 to 69 (M = 27.80, SD = 11.25), responded, with nearly 42% identifying as a first generation college student. Overall, students reported that in the 30 days prior to completing the survey they had worried about running out of food (47%), were forced to eat unbalanced meals (47%), skipped meals (27%), skipped eating for an entire day (8%), or stole food (1%) due to a lack of funds. Almost 33 percent of responding students reported living in housing that was only temporary and were not confident about their ability to pay rent on time. Roughly 28 percent "strongly disagreed" to only "somewhat agreed" that they lived in stable housing and 33 percent agreed that his or her housing negatively impacted their education. Finally, 16 (10%) of the responding students reported having experienced homelessness since beginning college.

Conclusions and Implications: Results of this pilot study suggest that college students may be experiencing food and housing insecurity, as well as homelessness at rates higher than implied by available FAFSA data. Given these findings, university programs should consider ways to better identify struggling students and linking them with university and/or community resources. Further research is needed to more fully understand how food and housing insecurity impacts students and academic success, as well as how to better meet their needs.