# Plain Language Summary: Opportunity To Address College Hunger Act

College students struggling to afford food would get help under this bill. Right now, many students face "food insecurity," meaning they don't have reliable access to enough nutritious meals. This bill creates a new program that would allow colleges and universities to use federal meal plan funding to help students who can't afford to eat, similar to how K-12 schools provide free and reduced-price lunches to younger students.

The bill essentially expands existing federal food assistance programs to cover college campuses more comprehensively. Instead of students having to navigate multiple separate assistance programs or go hungry, colleges would have clearer authority and funding to provide meal support directly. This could mean more students getting access to dining hall meals, food pantries on campus, or other nutrition assistance without having to pay out of pocket. The goal is straightforward: make sure that pursuing higher education doesn't mean going without food.

This affects college students, particularly those from lower-income backgrounds who are already stretching limited budgets to cover tuition, housing, and books. It also affects colleges and universities, which would have more tools and resources to support their students' basic needs. By addressing hunger on campus, the bill recognizes that students who are well-fed perform better academically and are more likely to stay in school and graduate. Essentially, it treats food security as a basic requirement for educational success, just like it's treated in elementary and high schools.

Opportunity To Address College Hunger Act

Bonamici, Suzanne

Opportunity To Address College Hunger Act This bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) that receive grants to operate work-study programs to notify a student receiving work-study assistance that the student may be eligible for participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Department of Education must provide guidance to states and IHEs on how to identify and communicate with students who are potentially eligible for SNAP.