
Sign-on Letter to Congressional Appropriations Committee Leadership Supporting Funding for the Basic Needs Grant in Fiscal Year 2026
May 20, 2025
CHEPP joined 67 organizations, institutions of higher education, advocates, and researchers urging congressional appropriators to include $45 million for the Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill. Nationally, 23% of undergraduate students experience food insecurity, and nearly 1 in 10 are housing insecure. This grant program provides essential funding for colleges to provide more comprehensive supports to students so their basic needs are met and they are able to stay enrolled and graduate. Students at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) who received just-in-time grants from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) during the COVID-19 pandemic were as much as 15 percent more likely to stay enrolled the following semester.