A new study on the basic needs of New Mexico college students shows that more than half struggle with food and housing insecurity.
Dr. Sarita Cargas is the study’s lead researcher and an associate professor at the University of New Mexico. Her team conducted a version of this study a few years ago, but just for UNM students.
Last fall, the state’s Higher Education Department asked if she would expand it to look at students statewide, so she did. She said the results were, “Shocking, but unsurprising.”
About 58% of students who took the survey were food insecure.
“So, that is almost 6,000 students — just from our sample," she said. "There is likely tens of thousands more who didn’t take our survey, so we're talking very high numbers."
“Most alarming,” according to the report, is that nearly 4,000 students had “very low food security,” the lowest level of a federal scale.
Indigenous, Black and LGBTQ+ students had the hardest time accessing “nutritionally adequate and safe food,” including around two thirds of BIPOC students.
“If you come from families without intergenerational wealth, then it's going to affect you as a college student," Dr. Cargas said. "And our people of color in America don’t have as much intergenerational wealth as white people do."
After this story published, Dr. Cargas reached out to KUNM to clarify her position, adding, “There are many families of color that do have wealth and there are many poor white families.”
The study found that many students face “multiple burdens.” Most New Mexico students have unstable housing, and 14% have experienced homelessness in the last year.
Dr. Cargas hammered home the importance of dispelling the myth of the privileged college student, saying many in New Mexico are struggling and trying to balance it all.
Since the study has come out, UNM has started the "Basic Needs Project." Its webpage provides resources for food- and housing-insecure students.
