First-generation college student Marrow Woods frequented the hospital in 2023 due to a number of health issues, including pneumonia, severe asthma attacks, and a blood infection. While this would have ordinarily been a source of financial strain for Woods, they could instead focus on recovery, secure in the knowledge that they had Medicaid coverage. A patchwork of pandemic relief bills had made it so that low-income students like Woods could access health insurance, food assistance, housing assistance, and more—a stark contrast to the benefits available before 2020. That patchwork fell apart last spring.

When the Biden administration announced it would end the COVID public health emergency (PHE) in May 2023, policy experts were quick to warn that it would also mean the end of “pandemic-era” policies that provided aid to vulnerable populations. Low-income students especially benefited from flexibilities for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility and continuous Medicaid coverage. Now, one year after the end of the federal PHE, students are struggling to make ends meet and pursue their education at the same time.

The pandemic has had a particular impact on marginalized students. In 2021, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students were twice as likely to know someone who died from COVID-19 when compared to white students. These students also consistently report higher levels of food insecurity, along with first-generation students, parenting students, and Pell Grant recipients.

“Upward of 4 million students are facing food insecurity at any given moment, and undergraduate students experience food insecurity and hunger at twice the rate of U.S. households as a whole,” said Mark Huelsman, the director of policy and advocacy at The Hope Center at Temple University.

According to the 2019 American Community Survey, college-aged students are less likely than other age groups to have health insurance. The pandemic exacerbated these issues, and the federal government responded by passing several bipartisan relief bills across two presidencies.

Typically, students would have had to meet an exemption to qualify for SNAP—even if they met the usual SNAP eligibility criteria. These exemptions include a 20-hour work requirement, something Huelsman calls “burdensome” to handle on top of a full class load. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 removed those hurdles.

“What that did was that opened up eligibility to upward of 3 million more students [who] could get SNAP,” Huelsman said. 

Meanwhile, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act prevented states from removing people from their Medicaid rolls, something that impacted Woods firsthand. They said Medicaid continuous enrollment allowed them to get their prescriptions and monthly infusions without any additional cost, which was a weight off their shoulders as a low-income, chronically ill student.

“It also gave me a sense of security in knowing that I would be able to continue to receive my medication when I needed it and not just when I could afford it,” Woods said.

The PHE flexibilities extended beyond SNAP benefits and health insurance. “Congress pumped tens of billions of dollars into emergency aid for students,” Huelsman said. “So nearly every campus across the country was allotted a pretty substantial amount of emergency aid that students could access if they were struggling to meet housing costs or anything really related to the pandemic upheaval in their lives.”

Despite the success of these programs, Huelsman and his colleagues knew they were temporary. “We knew that tying this to the public health emergency meant that when the [PHE] ended, there was going to be a deep impact on students,” he said.

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services initially declared a PHE in early 2020 when the pandemic emerged. A PHE has to be renewed every 90 days to continue, and both the Trump and Biden administrations renewed it several times. Many institutions, including The Hope Center, were in the dark about when it would actually end.

On Jan 30, 2023, the Biden administration announced it would renew the PHE for the last time in February. That made May the official end of the health emergency, along with the end of the flexibilities that had kept many low-income students afloat.

The Department of Education put out guidance for institutions and states to determine if students would be eligible for SNAP through another avenue without those flexibilities. However, according to Huelsman, the process of applying for SNAP was already arduous and confusing for students. 

“We have heard a lot from students about how complicated this is, about how many had no idea they might be eligible for SNAP because there wasn’t outreach done on their campus or they got bad information,” he said.

While 82% of eligible U.S. households received SNAP in 2019, The Hope Center reports that only a fifth of eligible college students are enrolled in the program.

Congress moved to end Medicaid continuous coverage even sooner, allowing state Medicaid agencies to begin reassessing—and purging—rolls as early as April 2023. More than 20 million people have been disenrolled so far, including Woods and their brother.

Woods said the process was extremely frustrating. “I couldn’t get ahold of anyone who worked there, I couldn’t find information online about how to renew your benefits, and I went through it alone.” 

They spent weeks trying to find solutions that would cover their care. Then, they were reportedly disenrolled without warning in April, forcing them to go without their monthly biologic infusion. Now they pay $50 a month for insurance while also paying out of pocket for their frequent doctor visits and medication.

Some schools have set up food pantries or free closets to address student needs, but Huelsman and his colleagues are aiming for a more systemic solution. The Hope Center, along with nearly 170 partner organizations, has submitted a coalition letter urging Congress to address student food insecurity through the next Farm Bill. 

“As you reauthorize the Farm Bill, we urge you to remove restrictions in SNAP that create barriers for college students with low incomes to access food assistance,” the letter reads.

Huelsman said this is an opportunity for Congress to right its own wrongs by making it so these benefits aren’t tied to any one emergency.

Woods also wants to see policy solutions. “It’s crucial for people to understand the ongoing challenges faced by students, particularly those from marginalized communities,” they said, “and to advocate for policies that address these issues and provide support where it’s needed most.”