Food and housing insecurity among community college student‐veterans

Abstract

In this manuscript, the authors examined the rates of food and housing insecurity experienced by student‐veterans enrolled at community colleges in fall 2020. The results of a multi‐institutional survey of student‐veterans at 113 community colleges suggested that 37.6% of community college student‐veterans experienced food insecurity and 52.5% of community college student‐veterans experienced housing insecurity. Additionally, 17.8% of community college student‐veterans experienced homelessness in the past year. The results also suggest that community college student‐veterans who experienced food and housing insecurity had lower grade point averages, higher rates of clinically significant generalized anxiety disorder, and higher rates of clinically significant major depressive disorder. Examples of strategies to support community college student‐veterans experiencing food and housing insecurity are included.