College Students At Risk Of Losing Food Stamp Benefits As Pandemic Relief Program Come To A Close

Imagine having to be fully present in the classroom while having nothing to eat during the week.

For many college students, this has been the case for a while, and the number of starving students may increase after SNAP food stamps regulations return to normal following the close of its COVID-19 pandemic relief program.

According to The Associated Press, researchers and policymakers examined what they called a “hidden crisis” and found that at least 30% of college students are food insecure. Nearly three million college students depended on the SNAP program when the U.S. Department of Agriculture relaxed eligibility requirements during the pandemic.

For some who caught the June 30, 2023 extension deadline, the support will end as the foundational anti-poverty program is set to return to pre-pandemic rules after one more year. “In the next couple months, potentially thousands of college students could be losing access to this program,” said MacGregor Obergfell, assistant director of governmental affairs at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. “It’s going to be coming in waves.”

“It kind of starts this slow-rolling disaster where we’re reverting to the old SNAP rules right at a time where obviously the need around food security is only going up,” said Bryce McKibben, senior director of policy and advocacy at Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.

Some college students had to choose between paying rent and buying food for the week. Earlier this year, Swipe Out Hunger, a leading nonprofit committed to ending college student hunger, warned of an incoming spike in student need as some will face being dropped from SNAP eligibility and turn toward food pantries.

“Traffic at food banks and pantries is already increasing as states end their emergency SNAP benefits end early,” the group said. “When these emergency benefits end federally, be prepared to see a similar rise in student need at campus pantries and other on-campus hunger solutions programs.”