Grant and scholarship money not enough

Measuring college hunger and homelessness is difficult. Researchers depend on universities to distribute the surveys and on a self- selecting group of students to fill them out.

The University of California has found that 40 per cent of its students suffer food insecurity. At four state universities in Illinois, that number is 35 per cent. Experts say the factors underlying campus hunger are complex. More low- income students are enrolling in college, thanks to expanded needs- based scholarship and grant programmes, amove away from standardised test scores as part of the application process, and other initiatives designed to recruit more diverse students. Once they get on campus, low- income students often find that the patchwork of grants and scholarships they’ve assembled are not enough to cover all of their expenses.

‘ There has been an uptick in low- income students on campus, but there hasn’t been a corresponding change in university policy to prepare for these students,’ said Anthony Abraham Jack, assistant professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education. In the 2013- 2014 academic year, room and board for the average undergraduate totalled $ 9,929, according to US National Centre for Education Statistics, a 50 percent increase over 20 years prior. Those figures are higher for private and four- year colleges and don’t include incidental expenses, from printing and laundry to nightly room charges assessed against students who can’t leave for spring break or summervacation.

50% rise in 2013- 14 university room and board costs over 20 years