Robust system-wide essential needs research and evaluation is crucial to understanding students’ lived experiences of hardship and resilience, the effects of basic needs challenges on student well-being and success, and the impact of campus basic needs programs. 

At the Center for Economic Justice and Action, we support a wide range of essential needs research and evaluation, with the goal of providing evidence to policymakers, academic communities, and the families of UC students that our interventions are reducing food and housing insecurity, fostering health and well-being, and increasing retention and student success. 

We are also building a strong learning community of essential needs practitioners and researchers. To join our networks, contact ceja@ucsc.edu.

Call for proposals: CEJA’s UC Essential Needs Research Grant Program

The UC Essential Needs Grant Program funds research related to UC students basic/essential and assessments of UC basic/essential needs programs. Awards for a maximum of $100,000 will be considered, with all research activities completed within 12 months. Our second call is now closed. The deadline was October 25, 2024 at 5:00p.m. (PDT). Our next call will be available in March 2025, with a July 1, 2025 start date.

Awarded research projects

Congratulations to our inaugural CEJA UC Essential Needs Research Grant awardees! These projects are underway and will be completed in June 2025. 

Camelia Hostinar, UCD – Changes in Food Security and Stress in Recipients of CalFresh and AggieFresh 

Matthew Landry, UCI and Laura Enriquez, UCI – Fulfilling the UC PromISE: Strengthening Access to Essential Needs Services for Undocumented and Immigration-Impacted Latinx UC Students

Suzanna Martinez, UCSF – Exploring the SNAP application process for college students

Blanca Meléndrez, UCSD, Richard S. Garfein, UCSD, and Elisabeth Mari, UCSD – Testing Student-Driven Solutions to Improve Food Security at UC San Diego 

Jesse Rothstein, UCB – Broadening the Safety Net: The Impact of Increased CalFresh Access for California College Students

Wendelin Slusser, UCLA, May C. Wang, UCLA, and Theodore F. Robles, UCLA – Basic Needs: Learning from our Community

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Recent essential needs research publications by UC faculty

The Center for Economic Justice and Action is building a clearinghouse of UC essential needs research.  Some recent publications are listed below. Visit often as our library grows! 

• COVID-19 Pandemic Takes a Toll on Graduate Students’ Food Security and Mental Health: Cross-Sectional Findings from Seven California Public Universities. (2023). Stress & Health. 
  
• Campus Food Pantry Use May Improve Daily Frequency of Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among California University Students Experiencing Food Insecurity. (2023). Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
  
• Helping College Students Get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Facilitators of and Barriers to Students Accessing the Federal Nutrition Assistance Program (2022). Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
  
• Campus Food Pantry Use Is Linked to Better Health Among Public University Students (2022). Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.