Student Supports: The Role of Social Safety-Net Programs in College Student Success

College students across the country struggle to meet their basic needs while also attending school. For students whose income is near or below the poverty line, safety-net benefit programs can help them pay for basic necessities. Experts have suspected that many eligible students are missing out on these programs, but data limitations have hampered previous efforts to quantify how many students are eligible, and of that group, how many actually participate.

Through our Student Supports Project, CPL is partnering with the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), the California State University Chancellor’s Office (CSUCO), and the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) to link anonymized data from these four agencies. Through this unique data linkage, we’re providing insights for our partners about these issues, testing new strategies, and helping more students get the support they need while attending college. This project is part of the California College Data and Policy Project.

Our “Research Overview” shows key findings and trends from research that we’ve already released through this project, and has links to the 10+ publications we’ve released. Our research to date has largely focused on CalFresh, the state’s food benefits program, known federally as SNAP.

Professor Jesse Rothstein explains why CPL started the Student Supports Project:

Research areas and findings to date

Over the past 4 years, CPL has developed a linked database to conduct research on CalFresh eligibility, participation, transitions, differences between systems and more. These 10+ research publications are divided by issue areas below.

Participation trends

These data points show how many college students received CalFresh food benefits from Academic Year 2010-11 through 2021-22.

Student Participation: 2021-22

Student Participation: 2020-21

Student Participation: 2019-2020

Eligibility & take-up trends

This report shows how many college students we estimate could participate in CalFresh (they meet the criteria), and of those, how many actually receive CalFresh.

Report: Filling the Gap: CalFresh Eligibility Among UC and CC Students

The table below shows how many UC and community college students were eligible for CalFresh benefits in Fall 2019.

The table below shows demographic breakdowns of UC and community college students who were eligible for CalFresh benefits in Fall 2019.

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

Policy brief: Trends in Community College Enrollment and CalFresh Eligibility During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Payment trends

This policy brief shows the amount of CalFresh food benefits that participating college students receive each month.

Policy brief: How Much Do College Students Get from CalFresh Each Month?

Strategies to enroll more students

These policy briefs describe strategies to enroll more students who meet the eligibility criteria in CalFresh.

Policy brief: Emailing College Students and the Impact on CalFresh Applications

Policy brief: Reminder Postcards and Simpler Emails Encouraged More College Students to Apply for CalFresh

Policy brief: Addressing the Barriers College Students Face when Accessing CalFresh Food Benefits

Determining college student eligibility for SNAP benefits

Participation in high school & transition to college

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

Research team

The Student Support Initiative is led by two principal investigators: Professor Jesse Rothstein, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at UC Berkeley and holder of the Carmel Friesen Chair in Public Policy and the David Gardner Chair in Higher Education; and Dr. Johanna Lacoe, the Research Director of the California Policy Lab’s UC Berkeley site. The research team includes Sam Ayers, Huizhi Gong, Jennifer Hogg, Sarah Hoover, Gaby Lohner, and Cara Tan. All inquiries about the Student Supports project can be directed to Jennifer Hogg, Senior Research Manager. Previous research team members include Karla Palos Castellanos, Charles Davis, Dr. Elise Dizon-Ross, Anna Doherty, Samantha Fu, Jamila Henderson, Alan Perez, Monica Saucedo and Justine Weng.

Presentations about this research

CPL webinar: “Filling the Gap” CalFresh eligibility report (June 2024)

Dr. Johanna Lacoe interview on CalFresh eligibility report (June 2024)

CPL presentation to CSAC Data, Research, and Strategic Planning Commission (March 2024)

(CPL presentation starts at about 32 minutes)

CPL presentation: “CalFresh: Supporting California Students” (As part of CHEBNA learning series) (April 2022)

Research resources

Data resources

The Student Supports linked dataset anticipates and complements the Cradle2Career Data System that the State of California is building.

The California Department of Social Services maintains a CalFresh Student Data dashboard which includes insights on college student applications. (For example, in December 2024, there were about 10,000 new CalFresh applications approved that included a college student).
Student Supports Dataset to support external research: This dataset links student records from the California Student Aid Commission, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, the California Department of Social Services, and the University of California Consumer Credit Panel. If you are interested in accessing the Student Supports dataset, please contact studentsupports@capolicylab.org for more information. New research project proposals are reviewed on an intermittent basis and final approval is contingent on review from the partner agencies. Any project that uses CDSS data must contribute to improving CDSS program administration.

Research reports

The Government Accountability Office published a report with national estimates of SNAP (what CalFresh is called federally) eligibility and take-up among college students. They found that “about 59% of food insecure students who were potentially eligible for SNAP didn’t report receiving benefits.”
In 2020, the California Student Aid Commission convened a statewide workgroup and generated recommendations on how to connect more food insecure college students to CalFresh.
The #RealCollege California Survey measures basic needs insecurity among California Community College students. The 2023 report finds that nearly half of CCC students are food insecure.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research published a report with recommendations to increase take-up of CalFresh among college students, leveraging survey, interview, and focus group data.
PPIC published a report on the role of CalFresh and Medi-Cal on students’ financial burdens.

Student resources

If you are a student who is interested in applying for CalFresh, we suggest visiting the BenefitsCal website.

You may also have a Student Basic Needs center on your campus, and the people that work at that center are knowledgeable about the process for applying and staying enrolled in CalFresh.

UC Basic Needs Campus Centers (has links to the center at each campus)

CSU Student Resources page (has campus-specific links for CalFresh, emergency funds, food pantries, and more)

Media coverage

The California Policy Lab publishes our reports and shares them with the media in an effort to increase awareness of the problem of hunger on college campuses, as well as the solutions. We’ve also written blog posts about this issue and our research as part of our partnership in the Accelerating Recovery in Community College (ARCC) Network, which are included below in bold.

If you would like to speak to a CPL expert about this issue, please contact Sean Coffey, communications director at CPL.

ARCC Blog post: SNAP Cuts Threaten Food Security for California’s College Students (June 9, 2025)

Daily Cal: Proposed SNAP cuts threaten food access in Alameda County (June 5, 2025)

CalMatters: 5 creative ways California colleges are feeding students beyond food pantries (May 23, 2025)

Sacramento Bee: UC study reveals huge drop in CalFresh access among recent high school graduates (April 23, 2025)

California Report: Interview about CalFresh participation sharply decreasing after high school (April 23, 2025)

Inside Higher Ed: Report: Students Lose CalFresh Benefits Between High School and College (April 22, 2025)

CalMatters: Applying for CalFresh food aid is complicated. California colleges are trying to make it easier (March 26, 2025)

City Times Media: CalFresh qualified City students not receiving benefits (March 11, 2025)

The Daily Pennsylvanian: Penn GSE hosts event to discuss importance of social safety net programs for college students (Feb 24, 2025)

Daily Sundial: Grocery and nutrition assistance for students (Feb 24, 2025)

Daily Bruin: Navigating CalFresh: how this underutilized resource can combat food insecurity (Feb 4, 2025)