HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has announced $1 million in funding through the PA Hunger-Free Campus Grant to help colleges better serve their school communities and ensure their students have access to the healthy, nutritious food they need to thrive. Last year, the Shapiro administration awarded $1 million in grants to 30 colleges and private licensed schools to combat student hunger on campuses across the state.
“Learning and succeeding are much harder when trying to learn on an empty stomach, and food insecurity knows no age or geographic boundaries – it affects learners from kindergarten through high school in every part of the Commonwealth,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. “These grants will continue the important work of addressing food insecurity on Pennsylvania’s college and university campuses so students can focus on learning instead of hunger.”
Interested applicants should apply through the eGrants system. For more information about the scholarship, visit the Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus Initiative website. Applications will be accepted until September 23, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.
Through the PA Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program, institutions of higher education with the PA Hunger-Free Campus or PA Hunger-Free Campus+ designation may apply for competitive funding of up to the following amounts:
- $20,000 for institutions with 3,000 or fewer students;
- $40,000 for institutions with 3,001 to 7,000 learners; and
- $60,000 for institutions with 7,001 or more learners.
The PA Hunger-Free Campus Initiative began in 2022 and is a focus of First Lady Lori Shapiro and part of her work to advocate for students and families to ensure they receive the support they need to thrive and live healthy, successful lives.
The initiative brings together postsecondary educational institutions in Pennsylvania focused on addressing hunger and other basic needs of their students and provides opportunities for outreach, networking and sharing best practices. For the past two years, Governor Josh Shapiro has provided $1 million each year to support postsecondary educational institutions’ efforts to address student hunger on campus.
These grants are available to both PA Hunger-Free and PA Hunger-Free+ campuses. Schools designated PA Hunger-Free Campus+ have implemented additional innovative solutions to alleviate student hunger and other basic needs of their campus community. Examples include offering a variety of meal plans, including an option that provides ten or fewer meals per week so as not to impact SNAP eligibility, creating or implementing meal sharing programs, training on-campus student leaders to develop student-centered programs, or fostering innovative community partnerships.
For more information about the Pennsylvania Department of Education, visit the website or follow PDE on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Pinterest.
