As many of you have witnessed first-hand when working with students, non-academic issues, such as food insecurity, housing instability, child care, and mental health services create significant barriers for them. These barriers disrupt students’ abilities to focus on academics, and hinder successful credential, certificate, and degree completion.
In February 2020, The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, released its New Jersey Community Colleges #RealCollege Survey report, in which 39% of community college students reported being hungry, 44% of community college students reported being housing insecure in the previous year, and 14% of community college students reported being homeless in the previous year. Employment didn’t necessarily improve students’ circumstances, as 68% of community college students who experienced basic needs insecurities were employed, and among working students, those who experienced basic needs insecurity often worked more hours than other students.
Students attending New Jersey’s community colleges in rural, urban, and suburban areas as well as remotely have various backgrounds, identities, ages, and work situations. They also have a myriad of basic needs. In addition to hunger and housing instability, the Statewide COVID-19 Student Impact Survey Report from the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education revealed that 66% of community college students are concerned about their mental health in light of the pandemic, and 70% of community college students have more stress and anxiety now compared to last year.
During the summer of 2022, the New Jersey Center for Student Success worked with 10 diverse students enrolled at community colleges throughout the state to get a better understanding of how unmet basic needs impact their academic journeys. Through focus groups and follow-up conversations, the students shared that they collectively experience these core basic needs challenges:
Access - Aligning access to programs and services with the sometimes overwhelming demands of their personal and academic lives.
Awareness – Knowledge of available programs and services is sometimes lacking, and the channels for communicating with students about are often ineffective, inconsistent, and occasionally inaccurate.
Affordability – The threshold for state or Federal support is too high for some (for example, $30,000 annual income for a single parent with one child eliminates eligibility).
Unmet needs – Child care (day and evening), mental health services, stable housing and food security emerged as top priorities for students. Participants also mentioned that they may also need help with utilities, debt collection, and legal advice.
The students recognized that food insecurity, for themselves and their families, was a potential barrier to academic success. Barriers discussed included:
Schedule of on-campus food pantries do not always align with students’ availability to access food;
The pandemic resulted in lack of steady employment, which increased the need for food resources;
Access to SNAP benefits can be inconsistent;
Lack of healthy options on campus; and
Role of communication in making students aware of services.
In addition, both day and evening child care emerged as a significant issue for all student stakeholders. It was the first topic that arose when students were asked to name non-academic barriers. Most participants were parents and had first-hand experience. Even non-parent participants knew of others with similar issues. The impact the students reported from the lack of child care included:
Being forced to reduce class load to accommodate child care needs, pushing out date for completion;
Lack of awareness of college policies among adjunct faculty; and
Significant burnout when child care issues are added to the stress of balancing studying, working, and maintaining a household.
Please note that all of the above child care issues are exacerbated when the child has special needs.
When the topic of affordable housing and homelessness arose, one student stakeholder shared that she and a child had spent time in a shelter. The student stakeholders then shared barriers to academic success that arose from homelessness, which they had witnessed among their fellow students. These barriers include:
Students forced to drop out and re-enroll multiple times because of instability in housing;
Requirements of homeless shelters for residents to be in or out of the facility do not necessarily align with class schedules;
Students cannot be reached by snail mail without an address; and
Students may be hesitant to reveal their situation to counselors, advisors, professors, or others.
The students shared that the multiple stressors encountered by themselves and their fellow students could significantly impact mental health, leading to burnout and dropping out. Issues discussed with our student stakeholders include:
Factors stemming from challenges previously outlined with food, housing, and child care;
Academic-related stressors such as deadlines on a syllabus; and
Mental health issues leading to “students breaking down,” which is exacerbated by failing classes because of the factors previously discussed.
In recent years, New Jersey’s community colleges, despite having very limited resources, have bolstered their efforts to meet students’ basic needs. This has come in two forms:
1. Strengthening partnerships and state policies to better connect students to existing social services supports for the duration of their academic journeys; and
2. Launching college-based services to address immediate needs, such as food pantries, clothing closets, and emergency financial aid programs.
As a cornerstone initiative of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges’ Vision 2028: Framework for the Future of Community Colleges, the New Jersey Center for Student Success continues to work to support efforts to address students’ basic needs. For example, the Center launched the Every Mind Project, providing mental health professional development and resources to community colleges by partnering with the New Jersey Department of Health and the Mental Health Association in New Jersey. In addition, thanks to strong partnerships with the New Jersey Department of Human Services, the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, and Hunger Free New Jersey, SNAP eligibility has been expanded to many community college students.
However, there is much more work to do to ensure that students’ basic needs are identified, students are aware of services available, students secure those resources, and that students are able to concentrate on their course work and complete each semester. Ultimately, strengthening basic needs supports will ensure that students are better positioned to thrive, have emotional security, and achieve their personal academic goals and future successes.
Jacob C. Farbman, Ed.D., APR
Executive Director, New Jersey Center for Student Success
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