Student Aid

New Working Paper Examines the Impact of Increased CalFresh Access for UC Students

December 17, 2025

A new working paper has been released under the California College Data and Policy Project (CCDPP)—a collaborative research initiative between the California Policy Lab (CPL) and CSHE.

The study evaluates the impact of Local Programs to Increase Employability (LPIE), a student exemption designed to expand CalFresh eligibility. The authors found that the LPIE designation has been particularly effective for University of California graduate students, increasing the share of...

Direct Admission at the CSU: Early Outcomes and Statewide Expansion Under SB 640

Willis, Kent
2025

CalWORKs Participation Among California’s College Students

Tan, Cara
Hogg, Jennifer
Lacoe, Johanna
Rothstein, Jesse
2025

California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), California’s version of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, provides cash assistance to low- income families with children. CalWORKs provides parents with cash assistance for expenses such as food, housing, utilities, or medical care, and may be particularly helpful for parenting college students, who temporarily forgo earnings...

Supporting Young People’s Food Security: CalFreshParticipation During and After High School

Gong, Huizhi
Hogg, Jennifer
Hoover, Sarah
Lacoe, Johanna
Rothstein, Jesse
2025

The transition from high school to early adulthood is a time when students must learn how to handle elements of daily life independently, and is a particularly
challenging time to experience food insecurity. Students who previously had access to food benefits in high school, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), may have trouble retaining that support, particularly ...

Many California Community College Students Are Eligible For—But Not Receiving— CalFresh Benefits

Hogg, Jennifer
Ayers, Sam
Lacoe, Johanna
Perez, Alan
Rothstein, Jesse
2025
Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. Food benefits delivered through the CalFresh program, California’s version
of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), can reduce hunger by helping students pay for groceries but may not reach all eligible students. To date, higher education systems have lacked good estimates of the ...

CalFresh Participation Among California’s College Students: A 2022–23 School Year Update

Tan, Cara
Hogg, Jennifer
Lacoe, Johanna
Rothstein, Jesse
2025

Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. CalFresh food benefits, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, can help students in California pay for food, but may not reach all eligible students. This data point provides estimates of CalFresh participation rates among community college and University of California (UC) students in California. It updates numbers...

Trends in Community College Enrollment and CalFresh Eligibility During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ayers, Sam
Hogg, Jennifer
Lacoe, Johanna
Perez, Alan
Rothstein, Jesse
2025
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the federal government responded by expanding the country’s safety-net programs, including through stimulus payments. There were also significant federal policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest food assistance program in the United States. Benefit amounts were increased, and eligibility rules were changed to make more people eligible, including by...

How Much Do College Students Get from CalFresh Each Month?

Perez, Alan
Ayers, Sam
Hogg, Jennifer
Lacoe, Johanna
Rothstein, Jesse
2025
College students are more likely to be food insecure than the general population.1CalFresh (SNAP) food benefits can reduce hunger by helping low-income students pay for their food. This is particularly relevant as the rising cost of food is putting extra strain on students’ budgets. Unfortunately, the administrative
hurdles and time required to apply for CalFresh can be a deterrent,...

Filling the Gap: CalFresh Eligibility Among Universityof California and California Community College Students

Rothstein, Jesse
Lacoe, Johanna
Ayers, Sam
Castellanos, Karla
Dizon-Ross, Elise
Doherty, Anna
Henderson, Jamila
Hogg, Jennifer
Hoover, Sarah
Perez, Alan
Weng, Justine
2024

CalFresh Participation Among California’s College Students: A 2021–22 School Year Update

Perez, Alan
Hoover, Sarah
Henderson, Jamila
Hogg, Jennifer
Lacoe, Johanna
Rothstein, Jesse
2024

Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. CalFresh food benefits, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, can help students in California pay for food, but may not reach all eligible students. To better measure student participation in CalFresh, the California Policy Lab (CPL) partners with the California Community College system (CCC), the University of...