As college costs and costs of living continue to rise, students’ and families’ incomes, Pell Grants, and other forms of student aid have been unable to keep pace, making affordability a significant barrier to college completion. The United Way estimates that about 38 million households in the United States (29%), are asset-limited, income constrained, and employed (ALICE), meaning their earnings are above the federal poverty line, but not enough to afford to pay for the basics in the communities where they live (United for ALICE, 2024). While these families may qualify for some financial aid, even the maximum Pell Grant award does not adequately cover the costs of tuition, fees, and living expenses, leading to greater difficulty in affording postsecondary education. And students who have limited access to financial resources face many additional challenges related to paying for college.
Beyond tuition, college students often struggle to meet their basic needs, including having enough food to eat, stable housing, affordable childcare, and reliable transportation to get to school. In 2023, the National Center for Education Statistics released the first-ever nationally representative estimates of food insecurity and homelessness affecting college students. Data from the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study show that 23% of undergraduates experienced food insecurity and 8% experienced homelessness in the 30 days prior to the survey (McKibben et al., 2023). The data also revealed racial disparities in basic needs insecurity—35% of African American students experience food insecurity, compared to 18% of non-Hispanic white students. While nearly half of the students experiencing food insecurity had household incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty line, about 20% had household incomes over 300% of the federal poverty line (U.S. GAO, 2024). It is undeniable that basic needs insecurity is widespread among postsecondary students.
Students in STEM fields face additional hurdles, such as scheduling and course load demands, that can interfere with their ability to access programs and services to meet their basic needs. Programs like S-STEM provide much-needed scholarships and wrap-around support to ensure students succeed, but students still experience need beyond covering tuition. This shouldn’t be the case. I’m co-PI of an S-STEM Research Hub, INTuitN STEM, where we’re working with our partners to better understand and address community college students’ non-tuition needs.
INTuitN STEM Research Hub
INTuitN STEM Logo.
Our INTuitN STEM Hub is working to understand and address community college S-STEM students’ financial and material needs beyond tuition. INTuitN STEM is a collaborative research project between researchers at Education Northwest, Temple University, and a set of community colleges with S-STEM programs. Our research partners are helping us answer some key questions so we can better understand STEM students’ non-tuition needs and how to target support. For instance, we aim to answer:
- What are STEM community college students’ specific challenges when it comes to addressing non-tuition expenses, to what extent are the challenges related to basic needs insecurity, and how do challenges vary based on S-STEM scholarship support?
- What are the basic needs-related practices and programs available to STEM community college students, and to what extent do students utilize those services?
- How do STEM program requirements affect access to public benefits programs, like SNAP?
By digging into these questions with our team, we aim to show what resources it takes to support students from low-income backgrounds to successfully complete STEM degrees and advance our thinking around how we define “low-income.”
S-STEM Scholars Speak
In September 2023, I attended the S-STEM Scholars Meeting in Washington, D.C. Our INTuitN STEM Hub had an active table in the Education & Career Fair, where I had the chance to talk with so many students and PIs—thanks for stopping by to chat! The picture below is of an activity in which students shared via sticky note some very honest answers to our questions “What type of non-tuition support do you need to be successful?” and “What should we know about what it’s like to be an S-STEM scholar?” This activity led to rich conversations with the scholars who stopped by to talk and share their experiences.
Many of the students I talked with work and support their families at home, are returning to school now that their children are entering college, or are the first in their family to attend college. Students overwhelmingly shared that the mentoring, focus on belonging, and career preparation resources provided by S-STEM programs make a difference in their success. Students also focused on the sense of community within their S-STEM programs and the larger S-STEM network as important and contributing to a positive experience in their college programs.
Students’ responses on post-its collected by INTuitN STEM at the 2023 S-STEM Scholars & PI Meeting.
Students shared that they have material needs, such as food, housing, access to childcare, transportation to get to school, and technology to participate in class and complete their assignments. These stories are evidence of the need for the unique work of our INTuitN STEM Hub.
Our INTuitN STEM Hub revolves around collaborative, engaging work with our research partners. We aren’t just answering our PI team’s research questions, we’re working with each of our research partner colleges to understand their students’ needs and experiences with basic needs insecurity, and how different rules, like work requirements for public benefits programs, affect a student’s experience in college and ability to be successful. In addition to the research, we’re providing technical assistance and support to advance understanding and practices at each of the colleges. Together we are connecting research to practice.
Taking Action to Support Students’ Non-Tuition Needs
By now you may be wondering, what can I do? Take a moment to reflect on the questions we shared in our sticky note activity. What are your students telling you? And scholars—what do you want your mentors, faculty, and administrators to know?
Here are a couple of things you can do now:
- Join our INTuitN STEM Hub! We’re still looking for a couple of research partner institutions, and we’re always happy to share our work with anyone interested in learning how to support STEM students’ non-tuition needs.
- Join our Basic Needs Community of Practice at Education Northwest! We’ll be sharing our calendar for the fall in August. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in additional learning about topics related to students’ basic needs.
STEM graduates can propel a vibrant innovation economy. Yet, despite expanding scholarships and co-curricular activities, stark inequities impede successful graduation into the workforce, especially at community colleges, where students from low-income backgrounds are less likely to enter STEM programs or to transfer in STEM fields than students with higher income backgrounds (Fay, 2022). This doesn’t have to be the case. We invite you to join our efforts to ensure that students’ basic needs are met, and they are able to not only complete college degrees, but thrive.
References
Fay, M. P. (2022). Policy fact sheet: Community college STEM pathways. Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center. https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/community-college-stem-pathways.html
McKibben, B., Wu, J., & Abelson, S. (2023). New Federal Data Confirm that College Students Face Significant – and Unacceptable – Basic Needs Insecurity. Temple University: The Hope Center.
United for ALICE. (2024). ALICE essentials index: 2024 national report. ALICE Essentials Index | UnitedForALICE
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2024, June 24). Supplemental nutrition assistance program: Estimated eligibility and receipt among food insecure college students. U.S. Government Accountability Office. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Estimated Eligibility and Receipt among Food Insecure College Students | U.S. GAO
