BIG RAPIDS — Many college students have made the return to classes as a new school year begins, but some of those students face housing struggles and food insecurity.
Lina Blair is the dean of student life at Ferris State University in Big Rapids. She said college students today face more financial hurdles than even just a few years ago. That’s because more are now caregivers for kids or family members.
“The gap between what financial aid can provide and the cost of living and the cost of being a student is much higher than it used to be,” said Blair.
Ferris surveyed college students last year and learned that 45% of its students dealt with food insecurity, 10% higher than the national average, and more than 21% of students have struggled with housing insecurity.
“That could be either they’re couch surfing, they’re homeless, that they are at risk of not being able to pay their rent or their mortgage or their utility bills,” said Blair.
To help with those issues, the university just opened a new fully stocked food pantry that any student can visit weekly to get up to two full bags of groceries.
Student project manager of the new pantry Jordan Wilson said the pantry is more easily accessible to students who don’t have cars to get their groceries home.
“The main hope with this is that it’s central and students will actually know about it and students will feel comfortable enough to come here because it’s not just like a little hole in the wall type of food pantry. It feels official,” said Wilson.
Wilson knows all too well about the financial struggles fellow students are facing.
“I’ve had a few of my friends stay at my place over breaks and such, where it’s just such a short term, like a few months of living where it’s like you can’t sign a lease. And even if you could, you don’t have the money to put that first payment down,” said Wilson.
Blair said Ferris is doing what it can to support students who find themselves in need of a helping hand.
“So that students don’t have to make the choice between continuing with school or having to work more hours and quit school temporarily or permanently is what we want to do,” said Blair.