Title: Improving College Students' Access to Food Assistance Related work: GAO-25-106000, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Federal Actions Needed to Help Connect College Students with Benefits Description: About 25% of college students face food insecurity. Over the years, efforts have been made to better connect students with food assistance programs. A recent change may help identify those who qualify and connect them to SNAP. We'll get an update on how these efforts are going so far from GAO's Kathy Larin. Released: April 2025 {Music} [Kathy Larin:] We talked to both states and colleges and universities, and they're really doing their best to address food insecurity on their campuses. [Holly Hobbs:] Hi, and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report. Your source for fact-based, nonpartisan news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm your host, Holly Hobbs. Many college students face food insecurity, but they don't know that they're eligible for food assistance. Over the years, efforts have been made to better connect students with assistance programs such as SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. And a recent change may help identify those who qualify for SNAP. We'll get an update on how these efforts are going so far from GAO's Kathy Larin. Thanks for joining us. [Kathy Larin:] Thanks for having me, Holly. [Holly Hobbs:] Kathy, maybe we can start with how big of an issue is this? [Kathy Larin:] So food insecurity among college students is a longstanding issue that GAO has reported on. Most recently, we reported that nearly 3.8 million students were experiencing food insecurity in 2020. So, what this means is students didn't have enough access to food to live a healthy lifestyle. Some of these students were skipping meals or eating less because they didn't have money to buy food. And while many of these students may be eligible for SNAP or food stamps, a lot of them are not participating in the program. [Holly Hobbs:] So the law recently changed. What has that allowed to happen that couldn't happen before? [Kathy Larin:] So starting in July of 2024, a new law gave the Department of Education the authority to share data from students Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to help connect them with SNAP benefits. And what this allowed is for the agencies that administer SNAP to use that data to connect students to benefits and to target outreach to students. [Holly Hobbs:] So the law changed in July--that's about 6 or 7 months ago. What all has happened since then, what all has the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture, which runs SNAP, done since then? [Kathy Larin:] So they haven't really implemented the data sharing. Department of Education officials told us that these data sharing arrangements can be complex, and they haven't developed a plan to implement the law. USDA is targeting outreach to students but absent the ability to leverage this data, their efforts may not be as effective as they otherwise would be. [Holly Hobbs:] So USDA has taken some steps while we're waiting for data sharing to ramp up. Has the Department of Education done anything for students? [Kathy Larin:] Yeah, Education has taken some steps. So, for example, when students that demonstrate financial need submit their FAFSA, they get an alert telling them that they may potentially be eligible for benefits. And it encourages them to reach out and apply for benefits. But our concern is we don't know whether that alert is going to the right people, because Education hasn't evaluated their methodology for targeting these alerts. [Holly Hobbs:] What about the states or the colleges and universities themselves? Are they doing anything? [Kathy Larin:] Yeah, we talked to both states and colleges and universities and they're really doing their best to address food insecurity on their campuses. They've done things like establish student assistance offices. They use destigmatizing language when they're talking about SNAP benefits. And they're trying to partner with local SNAP agencies. So, for example, when they can have someone on campus to help with applications and provide information on the status of applications, that is really helpful. {MUSIC} [Holly Hobbs:] So Kathy just told us about the status of efforts by the Department of Education and USDA to ramp up their information sharing efforts to better connect college students with important food assistance. Kathy, given the status of these efforts, what more do we think needs to be done here? [Kathy Larin:] We made recommendations to both the Department of Education and USDA. First, that they develop a plan to implement the FAFSA data sharing. We also encourage them to provide guidance to state and local agencies on how and when they can use the data. Finally, we asked the Department of Education to evaluate its methodology for targeting alerts to students to make sure that the right people are being notified of their potential eligibility. [Holly Hobbs:] Last question. What's the bottom line of this report? [Kathy Larin:] The federal government spends about $30 million a year on Pell Grants to help students with financial need go to college. And that significant federal investment is at risk, with nearly a quarter of students experiencing food insecurity. This new law can really help connect students to benefits and protect that investment. But USDA and the Department of Education need to do more to ensure that those benefits are realized. [Holly Hobbs:] That was Kathy Larin talking about our new report on college students and food insecurity. Thanks for your time, Kathy. [Kathy Larin:] Thanks, Holly. [Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And make sure to leave a rating and review to let others know about the work we're doing. For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at GAO.gov.