Key Takeaways

While low-income students typically qualify for the maximum need-based financial aid, they may face constraints to cover the remaining financial burden. This burden can be eased by two of California’s largest safety net programs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal, which help low-income residents pay for groceries and access health care coverage. We took an integrated approach to college costs, assessing the impact of financial aid, food assistance, and public health insurance on students for each of the state’s public higher education systems: the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and California Community Colleges (CCC). Our findings include:

• Even after receiving scholarships and grants through the state’s generous financial aid program, a low-income UC student might need to cover up to $4,000, a CSU student up to $8,900, and a CCC student up to $9,000 in annual net costs. For a CCC student who lives with parents, however, financial aid covers college costs and leaves the student with $2,600 to use for other needs. →
• CalFresh can reduce the financial burden of a UC student living on campus by about half; it can erase the financial burden of a student living off campus and leave the student with cash to cover other needs. It can reduce the financial burden of a CSU student living on campus by about 52 percent, while the reduction for an off-campus CSU student is about 24 percent. CalFresh lowers the financial burden of a CCC student living off campus by 24 percent and bolsters the disposable cash of a student living with parents. →
• UC students who enroll in Medi-Cal and receive a fee waiver can have their financial burden reduced by 90 percent if they live on campus, or by more than 100 percent if they live off campus. A UC student who lives on campus and participates in both Medi-Cal and CalFresh could see their financial burden replaced by $1,782 in disposable cash to spend on other needs; a UC student living off campus would have their financial burden replaced by $3,982 in disposable cash. →
• Many low-income students who are likely to be eligible for CalFresh and Medi-Cal do not participate. Policymakers and higher education stakeholders can help increase take-up by improving coordination between financial aid offices and campus basic needs centers, connecting basic needs centers with Medi-Cal navigators, and leveraging data to identify low-income students who are likely to be eligible and connect them with benefits. →

Higher education completion improves the wages and employment outcomes of individual Californians and results in reduced poverty and greater civic engagement (Bohn et al. 2023; Cuellar Mejia et al. 2023). However, while graduates from the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) have been shown to benefit from economic mobility, a significant share of students do not graduate within six years (Robinson and Cecil 2023; Perez and Gomez 2024). At the California Community Colleges (CCC), half of first-time degree and transfer-seeking students leave the system within four years without achieving or making significant progress toward their goals (Cuellar Mejia, Perez, and Trinidad 2024). Students often cite financial obstacles as the main barrier to college completion (Nielsen 2022).

Financial need is high among California’s college students (Figure 1). Over half of the 1.5 million students in the CCC—the largest public higher education system in the country—intend to earn associate degrees or transfer to four-year colleges, and more than two-thirds of these degree or transfer-intending students have high levels of financial need. Nearly half of the 380,000 in-state CSU undergraduates and 40 percent of the 230,000 in-state UC undergraduates receive federal Pell Grants, which are offered to students who demonstrate high financial need.

California’s largest safety net programs hold promise for helping students to fill the gap between financial aid and the full cost of attending college. However, recent research suggests that only 26 percent of 321,400 likely eligible community college students and 22 percent of 72,300 likely eligible UC undergraduates were participating in CalFresh in fall 2019 (Rothstein et al. 2024). Data were not available for California State University students. We expect there is substantial overlap in the income requirements for CalFresh and Medi-Cal, two key safety net programs that can help students meet the full cost of attending college.

CalFresh food assistance and Medi-Cal health insurance are entitlements that are broadly available to low-income Californians, but college students face specific barriers to accessing these programs. According to the 2022 American Community Survey, over two-thirds (68.5%) of California’s college undergraduates are young adults (ages 18 to 26). Many in this age group find it challenging to navigate complex student-specific eligibility requirements for safety net programs, coordinate with the county health and human service offices responsible for administering these programs, and avoid misalignments of program eligibility and redetermination with financial aid timelines. With the aim of improving coordination of safety net services for college students, we present an integrated picture of how food assistance, public health insurance, and financial aid can reduce students’ financial burden. We then offer recommendations for achieving this integration.

We analyze the financial effects of CalFresh on low-income California residents who are full-time students in California’s public higher education systems, ages 18 to 26, the traditional age range for college enrollment. For Medi-Cal, we focus primarily on UC students, since the UC system requires students to purchase health insurance coverage unless they can show proof of other coverage, including Medi-Cal. We focus on the lowest-income students—defined as those with Student Aid Indexes of 0 or less. These students are eligible for the maximum need-based grants and have no expected financial support from family for their education. Safety net program eligibility depends on characteristics beyond income, so we make realistic, but hypothetical, assumptions about students’ living arrangements, financial aid packages, and immigration statuses.

California’s financial aid system is one of the most generous in the country, and many of the lowest-income students receive aid that covers more than their tuition. However, non-tuition costs are significant for all students, and most are not covered by grants (Yang Zhou 2024).

The UC system has projected that living expenses (housing, meals, health insurance, and personal expenses) during the 2024–25 academic year will make up 60 percent of the total cost of attendance, with educational expenses (tuition, fees, books, and supplies) making up the remaining 40 percent. Living expenses are expected to be slightly higher for students living off campus, and they do not account for other expenses including, but not limited to, child care costs and auto or credit card payments. We find similar patterns when we look at costs for CSU students. Costs for CCC students differ because tuition and fees are lower, and many CCC students live with their parents. Thus, the potential impact of CalFresh and Medi-Cal is wide-ranging, as additional resources could allow students to work or borrow less to afford school while providing access to food and health care coverage.

In each of our scenarios, we show the cost of attendance, a typical financial aid package, and students’ financial burden—the gap between financial aid coverage and the cost of attendance. Financial aid packages include federal, state, and gift aid that does not have to be repaid, such as grants and scholarships, as well as federal student loans. Packages are calculated by the institutions and vary by institution partly due to differences in cost of attendance and available types of aid. (See Technical Appendix A for more on our data and methodology.)

CalFresh Can Boost Student Resources

CalFresh can help low-income students access food and contribute to their well-being by providing monthly cash-like resources to cover a portion of their grocery expenses. Actual food costs vary depending on where a student lives, the student’s dietary needs, and the number of meals (if any) covered by the student’s meal plan. Importantly, students living on campus are typically required to enroll in a meal plan, and students living off campus have the option to enroll in a meal plan. A student must receive 11 or fewer meals per week to be eligible for CalFresh. According to a California Student Aid Commission survey of students across public institutions, monthly food expenses (including food, snacks, and meals) were $817 on average for a student living off campus, while food expenses (often, the cost of a meal plan) for a student living on campus vary by institution ($696 at a UC or $584 at a CSU). These costs reflect a typical meal plan with a higher number of meals per week. Students who can choose a different meal plan may lower their food costs and potentially become eligible for CalFresh.

Across our scenarios, student financial burdens differ due to financial aid eligibility, housing, and college type. (See Technical Appendix A for details on financial aid resources and our assumptions.) CalFresh benefits for UC undergraduates typically reduce the financial burden by 54 percent (from $4,035 to $1,857) for those living on campus. And CalFresh enrollment could add $343 in disposable cash for an off-campus UC student; this is due to slightly lower costs (Figure 2, tab 1). At CSU, financial aid resources are different due to a lower cost of attendance, although CSU estimates a higher cost for students living off campus. CalFresh typically reduces an on-campus CSU student’s financial burden by 52.4 percent (from $4,154 to $1,976); a CSU student living off campus could see a 24.4 percent reduction (from $8,914 to $6,736) (Figure 2, tab 2).

Our CCC scenario assumes a student living with parents, since very few CCC students live on campus or have meal plans. The student living with parents is receiving CalFresh as their own single-person household and is age 22 and older, in accordance with CalFresh policy. Importantly, both scenarios factor in only the financial aid likely to be available at CCCs and do not include federal student loans—only 1.3 percent of CCC students received federal student loans during the 2022–23 academic year (Technical Appendix Table F3). CalFresh reduces the financial burden for a student living off campus by 24.1 percent (from $9,035 to $6,857); a student living with parents could have $4,816 in disposable cash to cover other needs (Figure 2, tab 3).

Across our scenarios, many students have financial burdens that can be reduced by CalFresh benefits, and some end up with no unmet financial need and instead have disposable cash to cover other needs. While CalFresh can have varying effects based on individual circumstances, connecting low-income students to college and safety net resources can help narrow the gap between financial aid and the total cost of college.

Medi-Cal Can Have a Big Impact on a UC Student’s Financial Burden

Because UC is the only higher education segment that requires students to purchase a health care plan (the University of California Student Health Insurance Plan, or UC SHIP), we devised a Medi-Cal scenario only for typical low-income UC students. A UC student enrolled in Medi-Cal can waive UC SHIP and have their insurance fee of $3,639 refunded by providing proof when required (University of California, Berkeley 2024).

A UC student living on campus would have their financial burden decreased by 90 percent (from $4,035 to $396) and a student living off campus would see their burden replaced by $1,804 in disposable cash to spend on other needs (Figure 3). An on-campus UC student who enrolls in both Medi-Cal and CalFresh could see $1,782 in disposable cash; a student living off campus would have $3,982 to spend on other needs.

While undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federal financial aid due to their immigration status, they can now enroll in Medi-Cal and waive UC SHIP. Because we assume that the student in our undocumented student scenario qualifies for AB 540, a state law that allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition and gives them access to state financial aid (Immigrants Rising 2023), the same analysis in Figure 3 would apply. The fee refund applies to all students unless they have a UC SHIP fee grant in their financial aid package, in which case waiving UC SHIP would not have any effect on a student’s financial burden. An undocumented student would not qualify for CalFresh due to their immigration status.

While we cannot quantify the hypothetical financial impact of Medi-Cal on CSU and CCC students, we know that the program can provide a significant financial safety net for low-income young adults (Cha and McConville 2019; Danielson, Malagon, and McConville 2023). A long pandemic pause on eligibility checks made Medi-Cal an extremely common form of insurance, likely making the program more salient even now. Furthermore, a recent policy change made undocumented young adults eligible for Medi-Cal, making the program more broadly available for college students (see Technical Appendix B for more on these changes).

We have demonstrated that safety net benefits can substantially reduce the financial burden of low-income college students. CalFresh helps cover food costs through cash-like benefits, and Medi-Cal allows UC students to waive UC SHIP and receive cash refunds. For low-income students, this could mean not having to work through the summer or taking on less debt—potentially improving chances of college completion. These programs, which are mostly federally funded, also offer support to California college students at a time when state budget shortfalls make new state expenditures challenging.

In recent years, policymakers and stakeholders have launched efforts to connect college students with these safety net resources. In the case of CalFresh, these efforts include sending notifications of potential CalFresh eligibility along with financial aid offers, allocating state funds to establish basic need centers across the CCCs, expanding the number of academic programs that enhance students’ employability to meet the CalFresh requirement, and requiring county welfare agencies to have higher education liaisons. During the pandemic, policymakers made CalFresh enrollment easier for students by temporarily allowing work-study eligibility and no expected family support to satisfy CalFresh’s student-specific requirement. There are also interesting policy proposals focused on reallocating TANF funds applied to financial aid programs to allow students to receive TANF-funded awards, and thus, become eligible for CalFresh.

Medi-Cal’s pandemic-era pause in eligibility checks increased enrollment and helped eligible enrollees retain their coverage (Cha 2023). This continuous coverage probably enabled many eligible UC students to show proof of Medi-Cal enrollment at the beginning of the academic year to waive UC SHIP coverage. The timing is crucial, as college students may be especially susceptible to Medi-Cal churn: cycling on and off despite being eligible. Students may miss notices due to frequent address changes, or miss deadlines misaligned with the academic calendar. The pandemic pause on eligibility checks is likely to have helped students meet the UC deadline and could have given them past experience waiving UC SHIP and receiving a refund. The state expansion of Medi-Cal eligibility to low-income undocumented young adults in January 2020 was also important for many students (Cha and McConville 2021a). The state’s public higher education systems can play a role in helping students get insured: for example, some CSU campuses conducted outreach to inform students about changes to health insurance options following the health reform (Zelman 2014a; 2014b).

State policymakers can leverage federal safety net dollars to support low-income students in a number of ways:

• Financial aid offices and basic needs centers could coordinate more closely to make students aware of potential safety net eligibility. Better communication and coordination of efforts could make more students aware of their potential eligibility for safety net benefits. Partnerships between these entities and campus organizations could help integrate and streamline student support. UC campuses should send information about UC SHIP waivers and refunds along with financial aid packages, so that students are prepared to show proof of enrollment at the beginning of the academic year.
• Connecting Medi-Cal navigators to basic needs centers on college campuses could also increase awareness. Most basic needs centers do not currently focus on health insurance, but many students have difficulties understanding and accessing health care options. The California Department of Health Care Services has a navigator program to help individuals learn about and access Medi-Cal that could be connected to campus-based centers. County welfare departments have higher education liaisons who could also be tapped to connect with students. Additionally, basic needs centers could designate a Medi-Cal Coverage Ambassador who could help students find, understand, and keep health care coverage (Department of Health Care Services 2024).
• Data-driven work can help to identify and connect low-income students likely to be eligible for benefits. California is developing a cradle-to-career educational database; it is also creating a statewide data-sharing agreement that could boost efforts to increase student enrollment in CalFresh and further advance existing efforts such as student data via the CalFresh Data Dashboard. Higher education institutions could leverage admissions and financial aid application data to identify and inform students of their likely eligibility for food assistance and public health insurance (Alvarado et al. 2022; Higher Learning Advocates 2024; Government Accountability Office 2024).

Given the continuing importance of higher education to individual economic mobility, as well as the state’s economic need for workers with college degrees, it is crucial to make sure low-income Californians can afford the cost of college. Making sure students apply for financial aid is of primary importance. Despite its uneven rollout, the state’s recently enacted universal financial aid application completion policy is a step in the right direction (Cook, Jackson, and Gomez 2024). However, helping low-income students make effective use of safety net benefits also plays an important role in alleviating their financial burden, likely contributing to improved enrollment and graduation rates.