English Paper on Colleges Tussle with Rising Food and Housing Insecurity
A vast majority of college students struggle not much with academic studies but with the basic needs such as food, shelter (housing) and adequate finances to buy books, pay tuition and get food. According to Paul Bradley, most Campus students are unable to access food and shelter as they are limited in comparison to the increasing demand (Bradley 1). Paul further claims that most of the students, who face homelessness, come from families earning low income wages (Bradley 1). The problem of limited food supply and shelter within the corridors of majority of the Campuses has been a matter of great concern for a long period of time. This devastating issue continues to worsen with time as more new students get introduced to the daunting and dubious challenge of seeking alternative forms of accommodation as well as food.
According to Paul, a student can only be able to thrive academically if he/she has access to all the basic necessities that are needed for one’s survival (Bradley 2). In general, success of any student in college requires more than just academic skills. Additionally, nonacademic factors have been found to have a key influence on the success of college students. Such nonacademic factors include finance to pay tuition and buy books, housing and food security. As years pass by, the increased cost of higher education and student debt has created an additional financial stress on the students and their families. A vast majority of students feel distressed and helpless since their families can’t afford to buy the necessities and make tuition fee payments.
According to a report recently released by the Community College Equity Assessment, approximately 12 percent of the two year students in California State experience food insecurity, while one third of them faced housing insecurity problems ( Bradley 1). Due to these insecurities, high levels of stress were seen among students with housing at 37.9% and food 48.9% insecurities (Bradley 2). It is with this profound reason that most of the College students are today forced to drop out of Colleges due to the distressful and devastating situation of the increasing cost of higher education. According to the report findings, most students who have opted to skip meals due to are unable to attain their potential of attaining a remarkable academic success. Thus, the issue of unlimited food supply within Campuses is largely correlated with the overall students’ academic performances.
Many colleges have taken various steps to eliminate food insecurity. The improvement has been made by creation of campus community gardens, food pantries and access programs for helping the students. Some college initiatives have also been designed to improve the standard of living of low income students, thereby removing the non-academic barriers in colleges. However, the financial support is has not yet been adequately addressed. Additionally, the reports found that most African American and non-Hispanic college students are affected by the high cost of higher education (Bradley 3). Therefore, there is great need for the government to investigate on why most of the students from a specific racial background tackle with the problem of food and housing insecurities and how they can be assisted to evade the high cost of higher education.
With the ever increasing cost of college education, it will be prudent not only for the government and colleges to address the food and housing insecurity but also the students’ finances. This is because all other insecurities are dependent on the ability of students to meet the cost of accommodation, textbooks and food. Therefore, colleges should also try to provide financial aid to the students.
Benz, Abigail. A Quantitative Study on Student Emergency Financial Assistance: The Impact on Community College Student Success, Persistence, and Completion Rates. Diss. Lindenwood University, 2016.
. Bradley, Paul. “Feeding Student Success.” Colleges Grapple with Rising Food and Housing Insecurity . N.p., 5 Jan. 2017. Web. 9 May 2017