Project Description

By: Jen Maguire, MSW, PhD (Social Work Department), Marissa O’Neill, MSW, PhD (Social Work Department), and Christopher Aberson, PhD (Psychology Department)

The Problem

Food insecurity among college students may make it more challenging to achieve academic success and wellbeing. Limited empirical evidence exists about the relationship between college student food insecurity, health and academic performance. On average the CSU graduates approximately 50% of our undergraduates in 6 years. Data from pilot studies (Maguire & O’Neill, 2015) and anecdotally across the CSU demonstrate that students are experiencing food and housing insecurity and that this may influence retention, academic performance and graduation. Examining these variables in the CSU will help the CSU have more information about where to focus our efforts.

The Purpose

We conducted a survey aimed at providing a snapshot of the current level of food and housing security and other factors that relate to student success. There are very limited empirical studies examining the level of college student food and housing security in the US and worldwide.

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Executive Summary