2020 Real College Survey Results on Student Basic Needs

43% of Pitt students experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity in the 12 months prior to Fall 2020. While only 7% of students who experienced basic needs insecurity used emergency aid, another 47% of students had not even heard of the emergency aid programs available at Pitt.

To better understand how Pitt can serve vulnerable students, the Campus Basic Needs Committee was formed in 2020 with a cross-departmental team of faculty, student, and staff representatives.

In Fall 2020, the Committee administered the Real College Survey in partnership with the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University.  Created in 2015, the #RealCollege survey reveals the lived experiences of today’s students outside of classroom instruction and is now the nation’s largest and most well-established annual assessment of students’ basic needs.

“The survey asked questions about employment, finances, food insecurity, housing insecurity, homelessness, transportation affordability, childcare affordability, utilization of public benefits, utilization of campus programs [and] demographics and included a special section on COVID response,” said Desmond Stuart, PittServes Basic Needs Coordinator who organized Pitt’s participation.  Invitations to complete the questionnaire were sent by email to 28,960 students on the Pittsburgh campus, and 4,824 students responded.

Ciara Stehley, Chair of the Committee and Pitt Pantry Coordinator said, “We learned from the survey that 43% of our students experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity in the past year. We also learned that while 7% of students who experienced basic needs insecurity used emergency aid, another 47% of students had not even heard of the emergency aid programs available at Pitt. Part of our job as a committee is going to be getting that message out to students more broadly.”

Read Pitt’s full 2020 #RealCollege report and provide your feedback on how Pitt can better serve students.

Students looking for basic needs resources can explore a comprehensive list of Pitt’s resources and learn more from Pitt Green Guide: Accessibility Resources.

In addition to the Pitt Pantry, other resources include the Student Emergency Assistance Fund and the Meal Assistance Program, an initiative launched in 2020 to offer short-term food assistance by providing 15 dining hall meal passes to students experiencing emergency or unexpected food insecurity.

https://www.pittwire.pitt.edu/news/survey-sheds-light-campus-needs