Orly Levy is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog.
Food Insecurity in Higher Education
The next farm bill provides a legislative opportunity to tackle food insecurity amongst college students through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
While the exact numbers are unclear, many low-income college students don’t have enough to eat. Despite this, it is incredibly difficult for college students to meet SNAP eligibility requirements, and many who are eligible don’t participate. In 2018, roughly 31% of college students who met SNAP income limits reported receiving SNAP, and 2 million students who were eligible reported not participating in SNAP. Colleges have undertaken various initiatives in efforts to alleviate this problem: setting up on-campus food pantries that offer dry and pre-bagged foods, offering meal-swipe voucher programs at their cafeterias, and providing emergency funds to help students who otherwise might have had to drop out of school. While these efforts can be helpful, broadening SNAP eligibility and participation among college students would provide more sustained and secure access to the nutrition critical to their academic success.
SNAP Limitations for College Students
Eligibility
SNAP is inaccessible to so many college students because of its long list of disqualifications. Students enrolled at least half-time in an institute of higher education (IHE) are ineligible for SNAP unless they are:
- Under 18 or older than 50
- Disabled
- Enrolled in school because of participation in certain programs (ex. the Federal Work-Study Program, which provides part-time jobs to students to help pay education expenses)
- Employed at least 20 hours per week in work-study program during the school year
- A parent (in some circumstances) OR
- Receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash benefits
Even if a student does meet one of these exceptions, they can still be disqualified if they get more than half their meals from a school meal plan. These strict eligibility rules exclude a large portion of students who are food-insecure but do not or cannot fall into one of the exceptions.
Enrollment Confusion
Furthermore, the complicated nature of these requirements makes it difficult for students to know whether they are eligible and how to apply. Some schools offer application assistance, but not all do. Many students are excluded from SNAP simply from a lack of understanding about eligibility rules.
Food and Food Store Coverage
Students who are enrolled in SNAP may have difficulty taking advantage of the program because it can be incompatible with their lifestyles. College students might not have access to a kitchen or cookware, but SNAP cannot be used for prepared or hot foods. They also might not be able to access an eligible supermarket, but SNAP cannot be used for student meal plans and many campuses do not have their own eligible stores. Under these guidelines, SNAP is limited in its ability to alleviate food insecurity for qualified students.
State Legislation
Some states have enacted legislation to make SNAP more accessible to college students. For example, New Jersey’s Hunger Free Campus Act provides grants to encourage schools to establish a hunger task force, designate a staff member responsible for assisting students with enrollment in SNAP, provide physical food pantries, and more. In a similar vein, California passed a bill that recognizes certain educational programs as employment training programs and requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to establish a protocol to identify and verify all potential disqualification exemptions to increase college student eligibility.
Potential Federal Legislation
Currently, there are no existing programs with the specific goal of reducing food insecurity for college students at the federal level. Policy makers could change federal support for food security among college students in the forthcoming farm bill.
- Removing the student disqualification provision altogether; alternatively, expanding exceptions to cover additional populations and reducing the provision’s requirement for 20 hours of work per week
- Expanding SNAP to cover hot and prepared foods
- Encouraging on-campus stores to become SNAP authorized through funding and technical assistance
- Requiring schools to offer application information and assistance on campus
- Requiring IHEs with grants to operate work-study programs to notify students participating in those programs of their potential SNAP eligibility
Ultimately, SNAP’s success in tackling food insecurity will depend on effective implementation, ongoing evaluation, and commitment by policymakers to addressing the broader challenges of food insecurity among vulnerable populations.
The views and opinions expressed on the FBLE Blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FBLE. While we review posts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee the reliability and completeness of any legal analysis presented; posts on this Blog do not constitute legal advice. If you discover an error, please reach out to contact@farmbilllaw.org.
