Many California Community College Students Are Eligible For—But Not Receiving— CalFresh Benefits

POLICY BRIEF: Many California Community College Students Are Eligible For—But Not Receiving—CalFresh Benefits 

Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. Food benefits delivered through the CalFresh program, California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), can reduce hunger by helping students pay for groceries but may not reach all eligible students. Using a linked database of student-level administrative data on college enrollment, financial aid, and CalFresh participation, in this brief we estimate how many California community college (CCC) students are eligible for CalFresh, how many students are taking up those benefits, and how many are missing out. We estimate that in fall 2019, 22% of CCC students (346,000 students) were likely eligible for CalFresh benefits. However, the majority of these students did not receive benefits—only 26% (88,000) of eligible community college students actually participated in CalFresh.

Additional background

This policy brief was produced as part of our research collaboration with the Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges (ARCC) Network, which is led by the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University; the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center; and Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research. The ARCC Network is supported through Grant R305X220022.

To conduct this research, the California Policy Lab (CPL) partnered with the California Community College (CCC) Chancellor’s Office, the University of California Office of the President (UCOP), the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), and the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) to build the first-ever linked database of student-level administrative data on college enrollment, financial aid, and CalFresh participation as part of our Student Supports Initiative.

Key Findings

1. Among all students enrolled in community colleges in fall 2019, the last full term before the COVID pandemic, we estimate that 22% were eligible for CalFresh.

CalFresh Eligibility Rates Among CCC Students (2012-2021)

2. Temporary, COVID-era policy changes expanded SNAP eligibility for college students. If these rules had not changed, the share of eligible students would have decreased due to changes in enrollment trends.

3. Eligibility and take-up rates vary by student group. Black students are more likely than other students to be eligible, and if eligible to successfully access benefits. Students receiving financial aid are more likely to be eligible than non-aid students and have higher participation rates when eligible.

4. Take-up rates vary by community college region, from 19% of eligible students participating in CalFresh in the Bay Area to 29% and 32% in Northern California and the Central Valley, respectively.

Suggested citation: Hogg, J., Lacoe, J., Perez, A., Rothstein, J. (2024). Many California Community College Students Are Eligible For—But Not Receiving—CalFresh Benefits. California Policy Lab, University of California. https://capolicylab.org/many-california-community-college-students-are-eligible-for-but-not-receiving-calfresh-benefits/