Andy 0:04
Welcome to the HigherEdJobs Podcast. I'm Andy Hibel, the chief operating officer and one of the co-founders of HigherEdJobs.

Kelly 0:10
And I'm Kelly Cherwin, the director of editorial strategy. Today we have Paige Swanstein with us. Paige co-founded the Student Basic Needs Coalition (SBNC) after living the very challenges too many college students still face -- working multiple jobs, skipping meals, and constantly worrying about housing. As a student researcher, she uncovered how widespread these struggles were and how fragmented the support systems had become.

Today, SBNC is a national organization helping students meet their basic needs so they can focus on learning and building their future. The coalition trains student leaders, advises colleges on building more effective support systems, and develops tech tools that connect students to food, housing, and emergency responses. In 2025 alone, SBNC programs unlocked more than $23 million in student support.

Paige's work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, and other national outlets, but her focus remains on the impact: students staying in school, accessing stable housing and healthier food, and reclaiming their future. Paige, thank you so much for joining us today. Welcome.

Paige 1:11
Well, thank you. Did I write that intro, or did you write that? The bio, did I send that to you?

Kelly 1:16
That might be Lauren, who maybe contributed to that.

Paige 1:19
That was good.

Paige 1:20
I'm going to steal that, thank you. I'm going to start sending that to everyone. You'll see your writing on all my bios from now on.

Kelly 1:28
Well, we're excited to talk to you today, so let's get into the first question. You've spoken openly about your own experiences with food and housing insecurity in college. Tell us -- how did those experiences shape the founding of the Student Basic Needs Coalition?

Paige 1:42
So I started college right out of high school. I was totally financially independent from my family. I wasn't super close to them. I immediately got two different jobs when I got on campus. One was at Chick-fil-A, and the other, honestly, I don't remember what the second one was. I think that was when I got my job as a writing tutor, which I kept all through school. But the Chick-fil-A job didn't last as long, I'll tell you that.

A couple of months in, I realized I really needed a third job to cover everything, even though I had scholarships. I thought, okay, what kind of job can I get that's useful to my career goals but also gives me money? At that time, I really wanted to go to med school, so I was looking for research positions, because those look good on med school applications.

I found one in the psychology department studying food and housing insecurity on campus. Since my major was nutrition, I thought, this kind of fits with what I'm learning. I reached out to the professor running the research and said, hey, I'm really excited about the work you're doing, let me know if I can help. She had an opening in her lab, so I got the job.

My main role was to conduct interviews with students who had indicated on a survey that they were experiencing food or housing insecurity. My job was to meet with them and ask questions about their experiences and resources. As I interviewed students, I realized how much I identified with them -- even though I hadn’t used those words to describe my own experiences.

That really connected my day-to-day struggles with the broader systemic issues many students faced. It was the first time I was confronted with how widespread this was, because honestly, none of my friends were in that position. They were fully supported by their families, and I don’t think any of them even had jobs. So hearing these stories made me feel more connected.

From this research, our team realized there was a gap in what resources were available to students and how students found out about them. We created an organization at NC State called the Student Biscuits Coalition. We started with town halls and programs, like training faculty and staff to identify students in crisis and refer them to resources. We even created a certificate program similar to Safe Zone ally training.

We also pushed for policy changes on campus -- requests like covering break housing under payment plans and expanding meal sharing. These were basic ideas that many campuses do now, but at the time this was new. A couple years later, at a Swipe Out Hunger conference, I met my co-founder from the University of Tennessee. He had a similar group. We talked for a year, then in summer 2020, with COVID disrupting everything, we realized the need to scale up nationally.

So we incorporated as a nonprofit. Within a few months we had groups at five schools. By spring 2021, I was still a senior in college when we launched nationally. We stayed volunteer-run for about four years, each working 10–20 hours a week on top of full-time jobs.

In February 2024, a donor committed to paying my salary for three years. That allowed me to quit my job and do this full-time. Since then, we’ve grown hugely -- raising more than $1 million, screening 15,000 students for SNAP eligibility, and referring them to nearly $33 million in benefits. Now we work with more than 500 schools across all 50 states.

Kelly 9:01
Well, thanks Paige for that fabulous background bringing us up to speed on where you are today. I want to circle back to when you first started on campus. You said you had training for staff and faculty. That really intrigues me because I think that's really impressive that you can get buy-in from the administration and faculty and staff. So can you tell us how that training came about and how it was received?

Paige 9:31
Once we decided to build a training curriculum for faculty, I think the process went a little easier at NC State than it might have at other schools. I already had direct access to our P.I. who was leading this work on campus, Dr. Haskett. We started by using some of the training she had used before for different ad hoc lessons she had done with departments. Departments would often contact her and say, hey, we're interested in the work you're doing, can we help? And she’d give them some version of a training.

So we combined a bunch of those, worked with someone in the TRIO office to finalize it, and had a student working group go over the training points. We asked them, what do you think, which of these would be helpful, which wouldn’t? We also worked with the counseling department to make sure the whole thing was trauma-informed and aligned with those principles.

We then presented it to the Pack Essentials working group -- that was our student support network, since the Wolfpack was our mascot. We practiced the presentation in front of them and got great feedback. Eventually, we got it into the school’s course builder, where you can add videos and discussion questions. We built an official course, and I think it’s still on NC State’s Pack Essentials website today.

Andy 11:23
Thank you, Paige. Hearing the story, it's obvious that when people look at college students there’s often an implicit bias, particularly at elite institutions like NC State -- that every kid going there is affluent and can afford it, or they wouldn’t be there. That feeds the misconception about who experiences basic needs insecurity in higher ed.

Nationally, nearly 30% of community college students are food insecure and 14% are housing insecure, with some colleges reporting even higher numbers. Can you speak to the broader scope of this issue and dispel some of the myths around who is affected?

Paige 12:23
Definitely. You mentioned the stat about community colleges -- that’s true. Community colleges often face higher levels of basic needs insecurity than other schools. Part of that may be reporting bias, since community colleges sometimes make it feel more acceptable to admit to experiencing these issues.

But this issue exists at every type of institution -- Ivy League campuses, large public schools, small private universities. No institution is immune. We’ve worked with students at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, UCLA, Chapel Hill -- schools with strong support systems, but even there, gaps exist between what students need and what they receive.

There’s also the myth that, “I don’t see it happening, so it must not be an issue.” But students often hide their struggles, or only share them with friends, or with faculty they trust. At elite campuses, students may not feel comfortable opening up to peers from more affluent backgrounds. That’s why it’s important for everyone on campus to know how to address these issues and refer students. Creating a culture of care across the entire campus is crucial.

Kelly 15:16
Do you think that college campuses are including this concept in freshman orientation?

Paige 15:22
Yes, some are, but I wouldn’t say it’s common yet. It definitely should be. It would set the stage for making it okay to talk about these things on campus. It should be presented equally to all students -- not assuming certain students need resources and others don’t, because schools often don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.

I recently heard about Wayne State in Detroit. They created a “thrift store” on campus -- it sounds fun, like, “What will I find there?” They co-located it with the food pantry and other resources. Students come for the thrift store, and then learn about the food pantry and other supports. It’s a smart way to destigmatize resources, by framing them in language that appeals to students.

Some people argue against changing language, but I think ignoring the stigma doesn’t help. Sometimes you have to adjust your approach while working toward systemic change.

Kelly 17:20
That leads perfectly into my next question. Basic needs insecurity is rooted in larger structural issues, from insufficient financial aid to rising housing costs. How does SBNC approach addressing those systemic factors while also offering direct support?

Paige 17:38
We actually started more as an advocacy organization. As we scaled, we taught students how to write legislation and get it passed in their states.

The first example was Tennessee. Students there wrote legislation requiring the Higher Education Commission to report on food insecurity across all public colleges. That bill passed, and the report came out in December 2023.

We like replicating that model. Mandating data collection might seem like a step backward, but it’s critical. Everyone needs a shared baseline of understanding, or else policies won’t move forward.

We also recently helped a group in South Carolina. They surveyed 30 public schools about student basic needs and presented their findings to legislators during a day on the hill. Legislators were receptive -- a positive sign.

I grew up in South Carolina, and I think a lot of national groups dismiss the South as a “lost cause.” But our team doesn’t see it that way. Legislators are people -- they care about students. Building bridges is important. You can’t treat people as enemies if you want to create change.

Andy 21:51
Thanks, Paige. It's interesting -- in government, good government comes as good government. People in red states, blue states, purple states all share strengths and challenges. While social services may be seen as a “progressive topic,” everybody can relate to people going hungry. Everyone knows someone with food insecurity.

Hearing your story reminds me of mental health services when I graduated in 1990. Back then, there was a huge stigma around getting counseling. People did it, but it wasn’t discussed openly. Food insecurity felt the same way going into the pandemic. It existed, but there was stigma, and it wasn’t in the forefront.

Removing that stigma and saying, “This is part of a student’s journey. Everybody comes from somewhere, and we meet them where they are” -- that’s one of the most wonderful things colleges can do for undergrads. You’ve talked a lot about stigma today.

If someone says, “I’ve wanted to come talk, but I haven’t had the courage,” what do you say to them? And how do you respond to people who reinforce stigma?

Paige 24:06
For students who feel stigma, I think it’s important to emphasize that resources are for everyone. You’re not taking away from someone “who needs it more” by accessing them.

Some supports like food pantries or clothing swaps may have limits, but programs like SNAP or Medicaid don’t -- everyone who qualifies can receive them. Students often think, “Someone else needs it more than me,” or they don’t want to label themselves as needy.

We need to reframe the conversation: these are student resources, just like the gym, the health center, or tutoring. They exist to help every student succeed.

Kelly 25:21
Thank you, Paige, for that. And thank you for this great conversation. I want to wrap up with one final question on best practices. Sometimes students don’t know these services exist or how to access them. What’s your advice to faculty, advisors, and staff to be better equipped to connect students with support?

Paige 25:49
There are some great resources out there. One recent example is the Real College curriculum from Believe in Students. I haven’t personally gone through it, but many people find it helpful. Anything that gives faculty and staff a baseline understanding -- how to identify students in need and connect them to resources -- is valuable.

We also built a screener system for SNAP and Medicaid eligibility. Students submit the screener, receive a personalized roadmap with application steps, and can even submit through the platform. Tools like that are useful because faculty can just share a link in their syllabus or on a course board.

One challenge is that referrals often stop at, “Hey, check this out.” There’s no follow-up. Having tools and systems in place ensures students actually connect to the support, rather than leaving it to chance.

Andy 27:13
Thank you, Paige. We really appreciate you spending time with us. This is a topic we haven’t covered enough, and I think today highlighted how important it truly is.

Thank you for listening. If you have questions for Paige or for the podcast, please email us at podcast@higheredjobs.com
or send a direct message on X @higheredcareers. Paige, thanks for being here.

Paige 27:43
Thank you, both.

Kelly 27:44
Thanks, Paige.

Andy 27:45
Thank you for listening, and we look forward to talking to you again real soon.