Background: Approximately 3.3 million US college students may be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Students are eligible if they meet an exemption to the SNAP Student Rule (e.g., receive a Pell Grant, state grants, Work Study, participate in the Education Opportunity Program). In California, the California Student Aid Commission notifies Cal Grant student recipients of their SNAP eligibility. The University of California (UC) system also offers SNAP outreach to students as part of its Basic Needs model. To date, it is unclear whether students receive and use this information to apply for and access benefits. To address this gap, this study examined whether receiving a SNAP eligibility letter and SNAP outreach are associated with SNAP enrollment among undergraduate students who utilized their campus Basic Needs services.

Sample: UC students who utilized campus Basic Needs services were recruited to participate in an online survey between December 2022 and January 2023. A total of 1,606 UC students across 9 UC campuses completed the survey, of which 889 were undergraduate students. Participants who reported meeting at least one exemption to the SNAP Student Rule were included in the analysis (n=485).

Methods: Students reported on demographic information, sources of financial support, having received SNAP outreach in 2022, receipt of a SNAP eligibility letter, and SNAP enrollment. Using multiple logistic regression, receiving a SNAP eligibility letter (independent) and SNAP outreach (independent) were examined with SNAP enrollment (dependent), adjusting for age, gender, campus affiliation.

Results: On average, participants were 21.4 (SD= 5.1) years old, predominantly female (75%), seniors (50%), and Latino/a (43%) or Asian (38%). Nearly half of participants (46%) were enrolled in SNAP. Among undergraduate students who met at least one SNAP exemption, receiving a SNAP eligibility letter (OR = 3.9, 95% CI: 2.36 – 6.72) and receiving SNAP outreach (OR = 6.5, 95% CI: 4.13 – 10.39) were associated with SNAP enrollment.

Conclusion: Targeted efforts, such as providing SNAP-eligible college students with government-issued eligibility notifications and on-campus outreach, may increase SNAP enrollment among college students in need of nutritional assistance. These findings are timely given the US Dept. of Education and US Dept. of Agriculture’s recent partnership to notify college students of their potential SNAP eligibility.