1
2018Reveal the remaining costs
Student interviews show how work, debt, emergencies, and living expenses persist after tuition is covered.
← Research & Public Scholarship
Main research arc · 03
Student Basic Needs
Research on how food insecurity, housing instability, and financial strain shape student well-being, academic performance, persistence, and educational opportunity.
Food securityCosts beyond tuitionStudent well-beingInterventions & policy
Student Basic Needs research program
Students cannot separate learning from the conditions of daily life.
Across five connected publications, this work moves from students' accounts of uncovered costs to evidence about food insecurity, first-semester outcomes, targeted outreach, persistence, and institutional response.
Qualitative interviewsMixed methodsRandomized experimentFirst-year outcomesPolicy synthesis
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How the agenda developed
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2
2019Connect needs to persistence
Mixed-methods evidence links homelessness, motivation, engagement, GPA, and stop-out among Promise scholars.
3
2021Measure risk—and test outreach
One first-year study traces food insecurity to stress and academic outcomes; a randomized experiment tests whether targeted nudges can strengthen persistence.
4
2023-2024Translate evidence into action
Public scholarship synthesizes prevalence, consequences, promising interventions, and the research still needed.
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Select a stage to see the studies that examine it. The map synthesizes relationships across the research program; it does not imply that every connection is causal.
The rate among stopped-out Promise scholars was more than twice the rate among enrolled scholars.
Source: Helping Students Keep the Promise ↗A low-cost email campaign increased retention in one treatment arm, showing how focused outreach can improve outcomes for students at heightened basic-needs risk.
Source: Experimental Evidence on Which Academic Outcomes Nudging Can Shift ↗Tuition coverage did not remove the cost of books, transportation, housing, and everyday life.
Source: Conversing With Kalamazoo Promise Scholars ↗Greater food insecurity was associated with lower first-semester grades and fewer credits earned.
Source: Coming to College Hungry ↗Across the evidence
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5of 5 studies shown
Qualitative2018Conversing With Promise Scholars
Drawing on student interviews, this study explores how Kalamazoo Promise scholars covered costs that remained after tuition assistance. Students often worked, half carried student-loan debt, and many continued to experience financial distress despite recognizing the substantial benefit of the scholarship.
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How do tuition-free college students understand their scholarship, motivation, remaining costs, and financial circumstances?
In-depth qualitative interviews with 20 Kalamazoo Promise scholars.
Major findings
- Most students relied on work to cover costs not paid by the scholarship.
- Half of the participants held student-loan debt, often for emergencies or large upfront expenses.
- The Promise eased financial strain but did not remove it from students' college experiences.
Why it matters
Tuition-free programs should be understood within the full cost of attendance; students may still need substantial support for food, housing, books, emergencies, and other living expenses.
Connected studies
Collier, D. A., & Parnther, C. Conversing With Kalamazoo Promise Scholars. Journal of College Student Retention.
Read the full studyMixed methods2019Helping Students Keep the Promise
This single-institution study connects Promise scholars' basic needs, motivation, and engagement to academic performance and persistence. Students who stopped out were more likely to report homelessness and showed higher amotivation and lower engagement than students who remained enrolled.
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How do basic needs, motivation, and institutional engagement relate to GPA and stop-out among Promise scholars?
Survey, institutional, and scholarship data for 142 Kalamazoo Promise scholars at a four-year institution.
Major findings
- A higher percentage of stopped-out students reported experiencing homelessness.
- Stopped-out students reported higher amotivation and lower extrinsic motivation and engagement.
- GPA, amotivation, and staff interactions were associated with stop-out.
Why it matters
Financial access alone is insufficient when students face housing instability, motivational strain, or weak institutional connections; basic-needs and student-support systems must work together.
Connected studies
Collier, Parnther, Fitzpatrick, Brehm, & Beach (2019). Helping Students Keep the Promise. Innovative Higher Education, 44, 333-350.
Read the full studyQuantitative2021Coming to College Hungry
This study measures food insecurity as students arrive at a four-year university and connects it to their first-semester experiences and outcomes. Greater food insecurity was associated with psychological and financial stress, amotivation, lower first-semester grades, and fewer credits earned.
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How does the intensity of food insecurity among incoming students relate to stress, motivation, engagement, first-semester performance, and persistence?
Institutional, external, and survey data for 700 first-year students at a four-year university.
Major findings
- LGBTQ, multiracial, international, transfer, and first-generation students reported greater food insecurity.
- Food insecurity was related to psychological distress, financial stress, amotivation, and intended peer engagement.
- Greater food insecurity was associated with lower first-semester GPA and fewer credits earned.
Why it matters
Universities should identify food insecurity at the point of entry rather than waiting for academic difficulty to appear; the six-item USDA scale offers a practical early-screening tool.
Connected studies
Collier, D. A., Fitzpatrick, D., Brehm, C., & Archer, E. (2021). Coming to College Hungry. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 1(1), 106-135.
Read the full studyExperimental2021Targeted Nudging & Persistence
This randomized study tested whether a low-cost email nudging campaign could improve outcomes for first-year students from high-FRL high schools. One treatment arm increased persistence by 12 percentage points, while estimated effects on cumulative GPA and credits were similar in magnitude to a comparable intervention.
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Can a low-cost, targeted nudging campaign improve first-year persistence, GPA, and credits earned for students at elevated risk of leaving college?
A two-arm experimental assignment of first-year students at a high-research university, focused on students from high-FRL high schools.
Major findings
- One treatment arm increased persistence by 12 percentage points.
- Estimated effects on cumulative GPA and credits earned were comparable in magnitude to a similar intervention.
- Targeted, low-cost communication may help institutions reach students before basic-needs risks become academic departure.
Why it matters
Basic-needs response can include proactive communication: targeted outreach may connect students to support earlier and strengthen persistence, while future work should directly measure whether food insecurity itself changes.
Connected studies
Collier, D. A., Fitzpatrick, D., & Nichols, A. (2021). Experimental Evidence on Which Academic Outcomes Nudging Can Shift for First-Year College Students from High-FRL Schools.
Read the full studyResearch synthesis2023-2024Food Insecurity: A Hidden Barrier
This public-facing synthesis explains how food insecurity affects college students' distress, belonging, academic performance, and persistence. It reviews policy and campus responses - including SNAP, targeted outreach, meal vouchers, and broader basic-needs initiatives - while identifying important gaps in what is known about which interventions work for whom.
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What does existing research show about college food insecurity, and which institutional or policy responses appear promising?
A public scholarship synthesis of national prevalence evidence, empirical studies, policy research, and evaluated interventions.
Major findings
- Food insecurity is widespread and its intensity matters for student experience and outcomes.
- Food-insecure students report greater distress, weaker belonging, and lower academic performance and persistence.
- SNAP access, targeted outreach, meal assistance, and integrated basic-needs responses show promise, but intervention evidence remains limited.
Why it matters
Institutions should identify food insecurity as students enter college, normalize the use of support, connect students to available benefits, and rigorously evaluate interventions across settings and student groups.
Connected studies
Collier, D. A., & Perez, B. E. (Winter 2023-2024). Food Insecurity: A Hidden Barrier to Higher Education. American Educator.
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