Higher Education as Safety Net Infrastructure

• In Event: SNAP Access and Economic Security: The Role of Policy Implementation

Abstract

Although the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, provides eligibility pathways for certain college students, take-up remains limited. Only 59 percent of food-insecure students receive SNAP benefits (Government Accountability Office 2024). This gap is especially consequential in the context of rising college costs, increasing reliance on loans, and growing evidence that food insecurity undermines student well-being, academic performance, and persistence. While much of the existing literature emphasizes demand-side explanations such as stigma, lack of information, or perceived ineligibility, these accounts often overlook how institutional contexts shape access.

One explanation lies on the supply side: take-up is shaped not only by individual awareness or effort, but also by whether institutions provide structured support for navigating complex administrative systems. SNAP eligibility rules for students are particularly intricate, requiring exemptions based on work requirements, caregiving responsibilities, or participation in specific programs. These rules can be difficult to interpret without guidance. In this context, colleges and universities can serve as intermediaries that either reduce or reinforce administrative burdens.

To address these challenges, some campuses have developed Basic Needs Centers, offer dedicated staff support for SNAP applications, or integrate benefit screening into broader student services. Others provide only limited information through websites, or no formal support at all. This variation suggests that access to SNAP among students may depend not only on federal and state policy design, but also on institutional capacity and priorities at the campus level.

To examine this variation, I compiled a dataset of more than 5,000 higher education institutions in the United States by combining Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data with systematic coding of institutional websites to measure the presence and type of SNAP-related support services. Preliminary results suggest that public universities, in particular, function as a largely unrecognized infrastructure that mitigates student food insecurity and facilitates SNAP access, especially in states where administrative processes are more complex.

As concerns about college affordability and student well-being grow, recognizing universities’ role in enabling access to public benefits is important. It sheds light on how inequalities in institutional support can translate into unequal program participation, and ultimately shape disparities in both economic security and educational opportunity.

Author

• Jae Yeon Kim, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author