The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the difficulties that many college students face as they seek to transform their lives through education. In a survey conducted well before the crisis shut down cafeterias and dormitories, the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University found that 39 percent of students across the United States had experienced food insecurity, and nearly 50 percent faced housing insecurity.
And it has become even more difficult for people to meet their basic needs while seeking an education now that college students—especially adult learners and those who are parents—must grapple with the health, economic, and social impacts of a global pandemic.