Supporting Young People’s Food Security: CalFresh Participation During and After High School

REPORT: Supporting Young People’s Food Security: CalFresh Participation During and After High School 

PRESS RELEASE: New Report Finds Many Low-Income Students Lose CalFresh Benefits After High School

The transition from high school to early adulthood is a time when students must learn how to handle elements of daily life independently, and it is a particularly challenging time to experience food insecurity. Students who previously had access to food benefits in high school, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), may have trouble retaining that support, particularly if they move away from home and must re-apply on their own. Eligibility rules that apply only to college students may also present another barrier. Connecting more young people to the public benefits they’re eligible for may help them to succeed in college or their early careers.

The California Policy Lab (CPL) partnered with California’s education systems and social services agencies to build a linked database of student-level administrative data on student enrollment, financial aid, and SNAP participation (called CalFresh in California) to make research on this topic possible. This report provides new insights on participation in CalFresh during the final years of high school and the first few years after high school, and the factors that influence whether students continue to receive benefits.

Select Media
Sacramento Bee: UC study reveals huge drop in CalFresh access among recent high school graduates (April 2025)
Inside Higher Ed: Report: Students Lose CalFresh Benefits Between High School and College (April 2025)
California Report: Segment on report (April 2025)

Key Findings

1. Of the 3.1 million students who graduated from a California public high school during the 2015-2021 time period, over a quarter (27.8%) participated in CalFresh at some point while in high school. However, CalFresh participation rates decline slightly as students progress through high school, and then more rapidly in the two years after graduation

2. Students who participate in CalFresh in high school are much more likely to participate afterwards. Among students who participate in CalFresh at any point during high school, slightly more than half (57.3%) participate the year after graduating. More than three-quarters of students who participate in CalFresh their senior year of high school continue to participate the following year (78.4%). However, among students who did not participate in CalFresh during their senior year of high school, only 2% participated in the first year after graduation, and 4% participated in the second year after graduation.

3. CalFresh participation rates vary by college system (UC, CCC, or CSU).
Among students who go on to attend a UC, high school participation is low but increases during the transition, from 10% of senior-year students to 13% two years later. By contrast, both CCC students and California State University (CSU) students who receive Cal Grants have higher participation rates in high school but their rates decline following high school graduation.

4. Among students who are eligible for CalFresh in high school and who go straight to a UC or CCC, less than two-thirds continue to be eligible in college. That means that over a third of students (37%) who are eligible their senior year and go on to college become ineligible once they enter college. Conversely, about one in six students (17%) who are not eligible in high school become newly eligible in college.

5. CalFresh eligibility differs by college system. For students who go on to attend a UC directly after high school, the share who are eligible for CalFresh increases once they enter college. About one third of these students are eligible in high school (34%), compared to half in the first year of college (50%) (Figure 8). Conversely, 44% of students who go on to attend a CCC are eligible for CalFresh in high school. Once they enter college, that share drops to 35%.

Suggested citation: Gong, H., Hogg, J., Hoover, S., Lacoe, J., Rothstein, J. (2025). Supporting Young People’s Food Security: CalFresh Participation During and After High School. California Policy Lab, University of California. https://capolicylab.org/supporting-young-peoples-food-security-calfresh-participation-during-and-after-high-school/