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The effect of food insecurity during college on graduation and type of degree attained: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2021

Julia A Wolfson*
Affiliation:
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Noura Insolera
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Alicia Cohen
Affiliation:
Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA Departments of Family Medicine and Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Cindy W Leung
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Email jwolfson@umich.edu
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Abstract

Objective:

To examine the effect of food insecurity during college on graduation and degree attainment.

Design:

Secondary analysis of longitudinal panel data. We measured food insecurity concurrent with college enrolment using the 18-question United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module. Educational attainment was measured in 2015–2017 via two questions about college completion and highest degree attained. Logistic and multinomial logit models adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics were estimated.

Setting:

USA

Participants:

A nationally representative, balanced panel of 1574 college students in the USA in 1999–2003 with follow-up through 2015–2017 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.

Results:

In 1999–2003, 14·5 % of college students were food-insecure and were more likely to be older, non-White and first-generation students. In adjusted models, food insecurity was associated with lower odds of college graduation (OR 0·57, 95 % CI: 0·37, 0·88, P = 0·01) and lower likelihood of obtaining a bachelor’s degree (relative risk ratio (RRR) 0·57 95 % CI: 0·35, 0·92, P = 0·02) or graduate/professional degree (RRR 0·39, 95 % CI: 0·17, 0·86, P = 0·022). These associations were more pronounced among first-generation students. And 47·2 % of first-generation students who experienced food insecurity graduated from college; food-insecure first-generation students were less likely to graduate compared to first-generation students who were food-secure (47·2 % v. 59·3 %, P = 0·020) and non-first-generation students who were food-insecure (47·2 % v. 65·2 %, P = 0·037).

Conclusions:

Food insecurity during college is a barrier to graduation and higher-degree attainment, particularly for first-generation students. Existing policies and programmes that help mitigate food insecurity should be expanded and more accessible to the college student population.

Information

Type
Research paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society
Figure 0

Table 1 Characteristics of the study sample, PSID (n 1574)

Figure 1

Table 2 Associations between food insecurity and college completion and degree attained, PSID (n 1574)

Figure 2

Fig. 1 Predicted probability of college degree completion by food security and first-generation student status: , food-secure; , food-insecure. Note: Post-estimation margins from the interaction between food security and first-generation status from a logit model including an interaction between food security status and first-generation status adjusted for household position, age, sex, race and income to needs ratio. *Differences between food secure and food insecure (within first-generation status) significant at P < 0·05. †Differences between first-generation status (within food security status) significant at P < 0·05

Figure 3

Fig. 2 Predicted probability of type of degree completed by food security and first-generation status: , food-secure; , food-insecure. Note: Results are post-estimation margins after a multinomial logit model including an interaction between food security and first-generation status and adjusted for household position, age, sex, race and income to needs ratio. *Within each degree outcome, differences between food-secure and food-insecure (within first-generation status) significant at P < 0·05. †Within each degree outcome, differences between first-generation status (within food security status) significant at P < 0·05