Basic needs insecurity is more common in college than one might expect, with about 1 in 4 students experiencing food insecurity and 1 in 12 experiencing homelessness. The Great Lakes region has been grappling with how to support students with unmet basic needs including income, food, housing, health, mental health and wellbeing, transportation, technology, and sometimes child care, clothing, books, and college supplies. Basic needs insecurity is associated with negative academic and mental health outcomes, and it is more likely to be experienced by students with marginalized identities. Addressing basic needs insecurity among college students will support engagement in higher education, completion of valuable degrees and credentials, and greater opportunities for economic mobility.
The Urban Institute conducted a landscape analysis of efforts to alleviate students’ basic needs insecurity in the Great Lakes and hosted a successful in-person convening in June 2024 in Chicago to discuss these issues with 45 state and student leaders. Building on this momentum, work is underway for Urban and its philanthropic partners to stand up a regional community of practice that will come together in three virtual convenings over the upcoming academic year. This community of practice will be a vibrant action-oriented space for participants to workshop policy change opportunities, problem solve common challenges, and design strategies to build further evidence for how alleviating basic needs insecurity leads to positive outcomes for students.
The emphasis of this community of practice is on pursuing, improving, and learning from structural strategies (e.g., policy changes and partnerships) that reduce the incidence of basic needs insecurity for students – as opposed to responding only to emergencies once they arise. The ultimate goal is for all six Great Lakes states to tangibly change administrative policies, form new partnerships, or pass legislation that supports these efforts over the next three years. The states involved in this effort are Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Urban will use its expertise to emphasize research and learning as a core element of the work and will collaborate with each state and their partners to help them design approaches that leverage existing data and insight and identify how they can build more evidence of impact. Urban will help states assess the effectiveness of their actions and document how they achieved promising outcomes. This will provide invaluable insights to higher education, human services, and related fields. Urban will also help broker state and regional organizational partnerships who join our policy work group to provide tailored technical assistance and support.
The Joyce Foundation and ECMC Foundation are generously sponsoring this project.