{"id":3660,"date":"2024-09-05T20:17:42","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T20:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccrc.tc.columbia.edu\/arccnetwork\/?p=3660"},"modified":"2024-09-06T13:47:54","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T13:47:54","slug":"college-students-dont-participate-snap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccrc.tc.columbia.edu\/arccnetwork\/2024\/09\/05\/college-students-dont-participate-snap\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Eligible College Students Don\u2019t Participate in SNAP. How Can Colleges Change That?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most Eligible College Students Don\u2019t Participate in SNAP. How Can Colleges Change That?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By Jennifer Hogg<\/p>\n

\"College<\/p>\n

In California, only one in four eligible community college students<\/a> enrolls in CalFresh. Beyond the impact on individual students, this amounts to $34 million in federal money that students in the California Community Colleges (CCC) are leaving on the table.<\/p>\n

The California legislature, state agencies, the California Community Colleges Chancellor\u2019s Office, and community college districts are investing more resources to close this gap. At the state level, Assembly Bill 1326<\/a> (AB 1326) requires that each county social services department designate someone to coordinate with colleges to increase take-up. AB 132 dedicated $100 million<\/a> in one-time funding for new and existing basic needs offices on CCC campuses.<\/p>\n

What do we know from research about the most effective strategies to connect more students to food benefits? In 2021, the California Policy Lab (CPL) and our partners tested strategies for reaching out to students<\/a> who were newly eligible for CalFresh. We found that repeated outreach, multiple methods (emails and postcards), and simplified messaging increased applications and enrollment in CalFresh. Research from The HOPE Center at Temple University suggests that text messages about CalFresh can also be an effective tool<\/a>. However, closing such a large take-up gap will likely require more high-touch interventions.<\/p>\n

To understand what strategies campuses are using to connect eligible students to CalFresh, we conducted informal interviews with basic needs staff across 23 public colleges and universities, along with experts in this area such as the Center for Healthy Communities<\/a>, in summer 2022. We learned that outreach falls into one of three categories:<\/p>\n