Scouting The Territory (Research Blog #2)

Since Blog #1, I have decided to expand my topic to include housing insecurity/homelessness among college students. Taking Professor Goeller’s advice, I decided it would be a good addition to my original topic and would result in a greater exploration of impoverished students. I will now be researching food and housing insecurity among college students.


The key terms that were most useful include “food insecurity college,” “housing insecurity college,” and “college student homelessness.” I found articles, books, and government documents that discuss causes, statistics, what food and housing insecurity look like, how the problems should be addressed (by colleges and by the government), and the consequences of food and housing insecurity. Wikipedia has a page titled “Food insecurity among college students in the United States” that provides some good background for the topic, including causes, prevalence, effects, and responses. Another Wikipedia article regarding basic needs talks about food pantries on college campuses, specifically how they work, are limited, and who they serve most.


Books that I should look into more:

Food Insecurity on Campus: Action and Intervention by Katharine M. Broton and Clare L. Cady

Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream by Sara Goldrick-Rab

Addressing Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in Higher Education: Strategies for Educational Leaders by Ronald E. Hallett, Rashida M. Crutchfield, and Jennifer J. Maguire

The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students by Anthony Abraham Jack

 

Scholarly articles that may be useful:

“College Student Homelessness: A Hidden Epidemic” by Chad Klitzman

http://jlsp.law.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2018/08/Vol51-Klitzman.pdf 

“Experiences With ‘Acute’ Food Insecurity Among College Students” by J. Luke Wood and Frank Harris, III

https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/doi/full/10.3102/0013189X17752928 

“Prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among U.S. college students: a multi-institutional study”

https://search-proquest-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/docview/2243537991?pq-origsite=primo&accountid=13626 

“Food Insecurity and Assistance on Campus: A Survey of the Student Body”

https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1097&context=ojrrp 

“Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in Higher Education: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Research, Policy, and Practice”

https://web-b-ebscohost-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=efd6025f-fa39-4e97-9755-08c7e1d788df%40pdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=126886250&db=aph 

 

Government documents/articles that seem important:

“The Hidden Cost of College: Addressing Food and Housing Insecurity Among College Students” by Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy

https://www.murphy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/basic-needs-insecurity-report1.pdf 

 

Addressing Housing Insecurity and Living Costs in Higher Education: a Guidebook for Colleges and Universities by Chase Sackett, Sara Goldrick-Rab, and Katharine Broton

https://permanent.fdlp.gov/websites/www.huduser.gov/2020/www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/HousingInsecurityInHigherEd.pdf

  

Food Insecurity: Better Information Could Help Eligible College Students Access Federal Food Assistance Benefits

https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/696254.pdf


From my search, I got the idea to explore attitudes regarding current government systems and whether they are doing enough and how the type of institution impacts the prevalence of and reaction towards food and housing insecurity. Issues important to conversation around the topic involve government aid, the rising cost of college, and college culture (especially regarding supporting students who are low-income/ in need).

From the resources I listed above, I am most interested in Chris Murphy's “The Hidden Cost of College: Addressing Food and Housing Insecurity Among College Students” and “College Student Homelessness: A Hidden Epidemic” by Chad Klitzman. Murphy is a politician and I believe it is interesting to see his perspective on how the government could be doing more. Besides describing ways the government could help more, he provided interesting statistics, testimonials from students, and details about the consequences of food insecurity and student efforts to combat the issue. In his piece, Klitzman includes valuable statistics, descriptions on what it means to be a homeless college student, how homelessness impacts students, and recommendations. He emphasizes the importance of helping these students and the need for action to be taken.

Controversies surrounding the topic of food and housing insecurity involve questions over whether the government is doing enough and whether it should be the school or government’s responsibility to help the students. Since this topic relates to welfare and government assistance, people question whether the students deserve assistance (like food stamps) or whether they are being dependent on the government and lazy. Some feel that the government is already doing enough while others advocate for the government to do more.


Comments

  1. Michael GoellerFebruary 9, 2021 at 12:03 AM

    Wow. You have found a lot of material. You might look at particular programs on various campuses that seem to have made a difference in supporting students, and/or different government efforts (at the state or federal level).

    I used to teach the book Walden on Wheels in this course, where Ken Ilgunas tells his story of scrimping to pay off his college debt quickly and then figuring out a way to do his graduate degree without incurring any debt. His solution? Live in a van on campus. A really interesting book, and one that brings home the challenges for students created by our current system. Living in a van is a good individual solution for one particularly self-disciplined and creative individual, but it does not represent a systemic solution to the problem of student homelessness or food insecurity. The neoliberal mindset, though, only considers individual solutions. We have to break out of that way of thinking to look for real solutions, and government has to play a role.

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