Food insecurity among college students: Administrators' perspective

J Am Coll Health. 2024 Jul 23:1-8. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2024.2378303. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Objective: An estimated 21% to 58.8% of U.S. college student populations experience food insecurity (FI)-that is, limited or uncertain access to adequate food. Ameliorating this FI requires the involvement of college administrations. This study seeks to explore campus administrators' understanding of-and support for-students who experience FI. Participants: Thirty administrators at a university on the West Coast participated in semi-structured interviews. Methods: All interviews were transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Results: Though participants understood the concept of FI, the majority underestimated the scope of the problem and didn't believe it had been treated as a priority. They identified competing resources and concerns, along with other factors like low awareness, as barriers to addressing FI. Conclusion: Although administrators were aware of the existence of FI on their campus, this study's results allude to the importance of providing further necessary FI education for administrators.

Keywords: Food insecurity; campus administrator; college students; grounded theory; qualitative.