College Hunger is Anything but Academic in Maryland

For more than 116,000 college students in Maryland, hunger gets in the way of learning, self-discovery, and growth.

Thankfully, passionate Marylanders like you care what’s happening on our campuses and have helped create and support food pantries at 17 colleges and universities – from Frostburg to Salisbury, and many places in between.

Basic Needs Insecurity

Based on our research, on any given day, as many as 1 in 3 Marylanders may face hunger – that means that out of the approximately 350,000 college students in Maryland, more than 116,000 are likely struggling to meet their most basic of needs – having enough food to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

According to a February 2025 report from The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, that number may be even higher. Among nearly 75,000 respondents (from 91 institutions in 16 states) 41% reported experiencing food insecurity.

That would equate to more than 143,000 hungry students in Maryland.

And food insecurity is only one of a number of students’ basic needs. Take housing issues into consideration (housing insecurity and homelessness) and that number jumps to 59%.

That’s about 207,000 students in Maryland.

And much like the United Way’s ALICE Report, the Hope Center’s study takes a reasonable view of life in 2025, and includes things like mental health, childcare, transportation, and technology access. When presented with those needs, nearly three-quarters (73%) said they were lacking in those needs.

So, while we know 116,000 Maryland college students face hunger, more than 255,000 are dealing with insecurity with some of their most basic needs.

Racial Disparities Persist on Campuses

One reason for attending college is an interest in developing critical thinking skills. But it doesn’t take a PhD to see that people of color on campuses continue to experience these issues more often.

In that same Hope Center study, nearly 75% of Black or Indigenous students said they were facing insecurity with food and/or housing – that’s 36% higher than the 55% of White students.

Even more concerning are some findings from the February 2022 article “A Decade of College Student Hunger,” which found that 73% students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) experience some form of food insecurity.

The Food Insecurity-Obesity Paradox

Learners of any age can be negatively affected by hunger. Child hunger does not magically disappear with a high school diploma. It tends to travel with students to higher education institutions and continues to affect their physical and mental capabilities to learn and grow.

Children tend to have a better support system (parents, educators, etc.) whereas college students are largely responsible for themselves, which can add an additional layer of challenges.

Having to source, obtain, and pay for one’s own food, clothing, housing, and other resources are not skills that all kids develop growing up, and can cause unexpected issues.

A June 2024 article in the Journal of American College Health found that Body Mass Index (BMI) was related to food-insecurity in college students due primarily to fewer days of sleep, fewer days of vigorous physical activity, and fewer daily fruits and vegetables consumed.

“These findings support the food insecurity-obesity paradox hypothesis, that food insecurity may cause weight gain due to increased consumption of calorie-dense, poor-quality foods, and metabolic changes due to episodic undereating,” said Daniel Sturm, VP, Learning, Measurement & Evaluation, The Maryland Food Bank.

Mental and Developmental Effects of Higher Ed Hunger

In addition to its negative effects on students’ bodies, hunger’s insidious effects can manifest mentally, instigating a slew of barriers to academic and personal success.

Among students responding to the Hope Center, 44% shared that they were experiencing clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. These symptoms range from having trouble concentrating, remembering details, making decisions and feeling tired‚ even after sleeping well, to experiencing aches, pains, headaches, or stomach problems—even thoughts of suicide or hurting themselves.

Even more—57%—who had paused or dropped out of college entirely said they did so due to mental health concerns.

College hunger is rarely an isolated challenge—it often sits at the intersection of other unmet basic needs. When these broader insecurities are taken into account, that already troubling number climbs even higher—79% of students said basic needs insecurity was the reason they didn’t complete their degree.

How to Help

In an age where information is literally available at our fingertips, the fact that nearly 2 in 3 students (65%) told researchers working on the Hope Center study that they “lacked awareness about available supports,” is simply unacceptable.

Going even deeper, the study found that 51% of students who reported basic needs insecurity did not receive any public benefits at all, and 48% stating that they were not using any of the campus supports mentioned in the study. And the numbers for students in need of but not utilizing housing and transportation assistance are even worse at 88% and 92% respectively.

But there is hope.

With a mission of feeding people, strengthening communities, and ending hunger for more Marylanders, we constantly collaborate with our statewide partners to provide programs and services that make a difference in the lives of our neighbors in need.

In our forthcoming blog, we’ll highlight the creative solutions our 17 Higher Ed pantry partners are supporting students with food and wraparound services—helping them stay healthy, focused, and on track to graduate.