TABLE 1—

Overview of Proposed Changes in Policy and Institutional Practices to Increase College Student Enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Reduce Campus Food Insecurity: United States, 2018–2019

	SNAP-Specific Changes	Other Changes
Federal
Longer term	Eliminate college student exemption for those who otherwise meet SNAP eligibility requirements.	Create law and federal funding to provide subsidy for healthy affordable food on college campuses.
	Align SNAP and Federal Work-Study and other financial aid eligibility requirements to reduce application and enrollment burden on colleges and students.	Allocate funding for hunger-free campuses in Higher Education Reauthorization Act.Expand school lunch and breakfast programs from public schools to public universities.
Shorter term	Define college study as “training” or “work” for purpose of SNAP eligibility for full- and part-time students.	Increase Federal Work-Study funding to better meet needs and make more students eligible for SNAP.
	Reduce work requirement for SNAP eligibility from 20 h per week to 15 h per week.	Encourage universities to distribute Federal Work-Study grants to maximize enrollment of eligible recipients in SNAP.
	Provide federal incentives for states and localities to move to electronic application and processing of SNAP benefits, to enable more time-pressed and technologically savvy college students to enroll.
	Support SNAP demonstration projects on college campuses that increase access to healthy food.
State and local	Designate community college enrollment as meeting the employment and training requirements for SNAP,a using regulation rather than legislation as permitted by a federal law, the Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006.	Increase state funding for work-study
	Plan state- or municipal-wide SNAP education and enrollment campaigns that denormalize stigma and promote enrollment of eligible individuals.	Contribute state or local funding to hunger-free campus acts.b
		Encourage on-campus restaurants and cafeterias to accept CalFresh (SNAP in California) benefits and to provide designated funds for on-campus food pantries.c
		Provide state support for emergency loans to students.d
		Require each campus to ensure that at least 1 staff member is designated to help students enroll in SNAP.e
University	Launch university-wide SNAP education and enrollment campaigns that denormalize stigma and promote enrollment of eligible students using campus e-mail, text messages, classroom announcements, listing on syllabi, and peer outreach programs.	Designate a single campus official to take responsibility for assessing and addressing food insecurity and other social needs.
	Assess student food insecurity at time of registration and financial aid distribution and link students with needs to services.	Coordinate and integrate food security programs with other basic-needs initiatives such as housing assistance and homelessness prevention, emergency assistance, child care, and mental health services.
	Train student-services personnel to identify food-insecure students and assist them to apply for and enroll in SNAP.	Distribute College Work Study strategically to increase the number of students who achieve SNAP eligibility through participation in state or federal work study. Even a single hour each week of Work Study qualifies students for an exemption to the blanket ineligibility, but colleges have typically not distributed these very limited Work Study resources widely.
	Train students and faculty to assist food-insecure students to enroll in SNAP.	Make food pantries hubs for connecting food-insecure students to the multiple services they need.
		Require university food service vendors to contribute to reducing food insecurity.
		Bring Single Stop or The Benefits Bank to campus to provide comprehensive benefits screening for students.
		Engage faculty, student-services staff, and student leadership and peer programs in active campaigns to destigmatize food assistance and promote participation.

^aMassachusetts and Pennsylvania already do this.

^bCalifornia does this.

^cCalifornia has done this.

^dWisconsin and Minnesota do this.

^eCalifornia and New Jersey provide financial incentives for colleges to do this.