More than a third of college students don't have enough to eat

By: Sonja Haller | April 3, 2018 Follow @sonjahaller

All the attention when it comes to college students is on their drinking. But what are they eating?

Not enough.

College students — potentially millions of them — are not getting enough to eat, according to a report released Tuesday.

The study, called “Still Hungry and Homeless in College,” found that 36 percent of college students do not get enough to eat, and a similar number lacks a secure place to live.

Credit: Getty Images

Researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab surveyed 66 surveyed colleges and universities. Their survey sampled 43,000 students from two- and four-year schools, including private and public universities.

Too broke to eat

Researchers cite rising tuition and universities’ unwillingness to admit they have a student hunger problem on their hands, according to The Washington Post.

Researchers say student hunger is not a new problem, but it’s getting worse.

Students aren’t just skipping meals to save up for beer money. They’re not eating because they don’t have any money to pay for it, researchers say.

More alarming statistics

Credit: Getty Images

The report found that, unsurprisingly, students’ grades suffered when they don’t know where they’re going to sleep that night or where their next meal is coming from.

Other findings from the report:

9 percent of university students and 12 percent of community college students said they were homeless in the last year.
36 percent of university students were housing-insecure in the past year, which meant they could not afford rent or utilities or needed to move frequently.
46 percent of community college students were housing-insecure.
Black and Native American students were much more likely than non-Hispanic white or Asian students to experience food or housing insecurity.
At both universities and community college, rates of food and housing insecurity were higher among students who worked longer hours.

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