Universities, College Students Brace for SNAP Cuts
Posted by U.S. News & World Report on July 15, 2025
Activists and a growing number of lawmakers are raising concerns over the potential consequences of recently approved cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on a segment of the population not always associated with food insecurity: university students.
SNAP — formerly known as food stamps — is the country’s largest federal nutrition assistance program, serving about 41.5 million people and 22.3 million households as of 2024. A significant portion of recipients are adults ages 18-59. Roughly 600,000 college students actively relied on the program as of 2020.
Provisions included in the reconciliation bill passed by Congress slashed nearly $186 billion in funding from 2025 to 2034 by shifting more of its costs to state governments and adding new work requirements to fund the sweeping federal spending package informally called the “big, beautiful bill.”
College students, as one 2023 study on the subject said, “have often been considered to be of a ‘privileged’ or ‘elite’ group” – a factor likely contributing to their finding themselves in the crosshairs of government cost-cutters claiming they are stamping out waste, fraud and abuse in the system. Yet advocates argue the changes will leave millions at risk, particularly college students who already struggle with access to reliable, affordable meals. They also say that proposed cuts would deepen disparities in higher education, making it harder for students from low-income backgrounds to stay enrolled and complete their degrees.
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