Keeping Low-Income College Students From Going Hungry - Opinion

Melissa Laska, Ph.D., a distinguished McKnight University professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and Sheila Fleischhacker, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center,write: Before COVID-19 arrived in the U.S., millions of college students already weren’t sure where their next meal would come from. This pandemic has further intensified this food insecurity and poses significant challenges as colleges plan to reopen this fall. Pre-pandemic, one in every three college students in the U.S. – more than 7.8 million – were living in or near poverty. Most undergraduates (72 percent) needed financial aid, and students experiencing economic hardship and food insecurity reported lower grades and delays in degree completion.