Nearly 1 in 4 Cal State students are going hungry, new report says
A year-long study released by the California State University on Friday finds that 24 percent of the system’s 460 thousand students could be going hungry. The report also found that as many as 12 percent of students suffer “housing displacement” such as homelessness.
“Systems need to be implemented in every college and university in the country to find these students and ensure that they reach their full potential without worrying about where their next meal is coming from or where they will be sleeping,” CSU Chancellor Tim White said in a written statement.
Researchers said the findings are troubling, especially in a university system so large. They believe the problem has become serious over the years because of rising university tuition and cost of living, and changing demographics at the 23-campus system.
“We don’t have the same college population that we did in the 1950s. Now we have more students who are experiencing social problems related to poverty and inequity,” said CSU Long Beach Social Work Professor Rashida Crutchfield, a co-author of the report.
The impact of food and housing insecurity on college students is wide-ranging, researchers said.
“Students can’t learn if they don’t have their basic needs met,” CSU Humboldt professor of social work Jen Maguire said.
And students going through these challenges get less out of the college experience.
“If you’re worried about food or if you’re worried about housing you’re not engaging in those extra clubs or leadership opportunities or athletics because you’re having to think about an extra job or finding money to get your next meal,” Maguire said.
To bring about change, she said, the university community and the general public needs to understand that these problems are significantly more far reaching than Nearly 1 in 4 Cal State students are going hungry, new report says | 89.3 KPCC:
