Evaluation of SNAP Application Assistance to Enroll More Eligible Low-Income Students

We will study an intervention intended to help low-income college students overcome barriers to food assistance, thereby improving their food security and educational outcomes. We hypothesize that unequal access to sufficient, nutritious food during college impedes educational attainment, affecting students’ long-term outcomes. The study focuses on students who are likely income-eligible for SNAP at ten public California colleges (n=50,000). Students will be randomly assigned to receive targeted outreach and incentives to attend a SNAP application assistance appointment, where a trained basic needs staff member will guide them through the application process and provide follow-up assistance as needed. Using administrative data, the study will compare the outcomes of the treatment and control groups to provide a causal link between this promising practice and SNAP applications and enrollment. We will also examine whether increased access to food assistance improves academic performance, persistence, and degree or certificate completion, providing evidence on whether this intervention can help reduce inequality in educational attainment between lower- and higher-resourced students.