Nearly a quarter of Cal State students are food insecure, survey says

A California State University survey found that nearly 24 percent of the system’s 460,000 students are food insecure.

The yearlong study revealed that an estimated 8 to 12 percent of students at the school’s 23 campuses have unstable “housing situations” and that those who experience food or housing instability have high stress levels.

The study also found that just 11 of the system’s campuses offer programs for food-insecure students, including CSU–Humboldt’s “Oh SNAP!” initiative, which offers non-perishable food, cooking classes for healthy meals on a budget and access to government-funded food assistance, according to a release.

CSU researchers concluded that administrators at all of the campuses should adopt policies to reduce student hunger and homelessness, devote more funds to address the problems and study the issue further.

“Systems need to be implemented in every college and university in the country to find these students and ensure that they reach their full potential without worrying about where their next meal is coming from or where they will be sleeping,” CSU Chancellor Tim White said in a statement.