Giving Compass' Take: 

• Community college students face more challenges because of the lack of resources and funding allotted to their schools. 

• Struggling with challenges such as food insecurity and housing while in college can be stressful for students trying to earn their degrees. If these studies show that a specific program can help retain students, how do you think schools will be able to tailor programs to fit their specific needs of their students at each school? 

• Other programs for community college students do exist but take a broader focus on issues such as the low graduation rate at community colleges. 

Programs serving community college students in Houston, TX, and Tacoma, WA, struggling with homelessness and food insecurity are the subject of two major studies led by Sara Goldrick-Rab at Temple University’s College of Education.

An estimated half of all college students struggle with food insecurity at public and private institutions, and with the cost of higher education at an all-time high, more students are facing the challenges of homelessness as well. Community college students face the highest rates of hunger and homelessness in college. With fewer social programs available to help them, fewer financial aid dollars available from federal, state and local governments, and families’ standards of living declining, even community college is slipping beyond the reach of most people.

Led by Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, an expert in the field, these two studies will examine whether programs put into place to combat these problems are having success in doing so. Helping students address the real price of attending college—which range far beyond just tuition—will help them stay in school, finish their studies, and have a much better chance of reaching the middle class.

Read more about students in community college by Api Podder at My Social Good News.