National Evidence of the Relationship Between SNAP Receipt and College Students' Academic Outcomes

Food insecurity is widely experienced on college campuses. However, most students who are eligible for the largest federal food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), do not appear to be engaged with the program. Little is known regarding the relationship between SNAP receipt and the academic outcomes of food-insecure college students. We leverage nationally representative data from the Beginning Postsecondary Study (12/17) on college students' SNAP use to examine the relationship between receiving SNAP benefits and academic outcomes. We find that SNAP receipt has a broadly negative association with students' short- and long-term academic outcomes. Policy design represents a critical consideration when examining why receiving SNAP benefits may have a negative association with students' academic outcomes.