The prevalence of housing and food insecurity on campus has critical implications for student outcomes, as an inability to meet basic needs can “undermine academic success,” the report’s authors note. Housing insecurity, in particular, has a strong relationship with students’ persistence rates and credit attainment.
The report explains that food insecurity involves “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food,” while housing insecurity includes “a broad set of challenges,” such as being unable to pay rent, moving frequently or “couch surfing” at the houses of friends and family.
