For the first time in University of Hawaii history, a master plan has been launched to assist students with obtaining basic needs, such as food, housing, clothing, child care, mental health, living expenses and transportation, UH officials announced Wednesday.

Students cannot succeed in school when they struggle with basic needs, UH President David Lassner said in a news release. “Basic needs security for students is critical to their academic performance, persistence, graduation and overall well-being.”

More than half of the 46,000 students across the UH system, and nearly 60% of college students nationwide, experience some type of basic needs insecurity, a 2020 UH student survey and recent research suggest.

The plan makes improving students’ awareness of existing support services a priority. The UH survey found that 58% of students surveyed did not apply for basic needs support on their campus because they did not know about the services available, did not know how to apply or did not believe they qualified.

The “UH System Student Basic Needs Master Plan: A 3-Year Strategy” report includes individualized data and plans for each of the 10 UH campuses. Among the systemwide features:

>> Basic-needs coordinator and committee chairperson, costing $120,000 per year for three years

>> Basic-needs outreach and education events, $50,000 per year for three years

>> An online clearinghouse of information, $25,000

>> A survey to measure progress, $100,000

>> Emergency aid, in-kind

>> Campus committees, in-kind

Execution of the plan would cost $620,000 over three years, and the goal is to raise the funds through grants, said Albie Miles, a UH West Oahu assistant professor of sustainable community food systems who serves as chair of the UH Basic Needs Committee, which created the master plan. If more can be raised, then staffing and food pantries on each of the 10 campuses can be made consistent, Miles said.

The UH plan is part of a growing shift in thinking in higher education institutions nationwide.

A report by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice notes that “20 years ago, food and housing insecurity were not among the top concerns of college and university leaders, though at least some students experienced them. Recognition of these problems has improved in the past several years, but the coronavirus pandemic has exposed how shaky this progress was, and how much work remains to be done.”

Data on students’ basic needs insecurity collected over the past two decades nationwide point to a worsening crisis caused by large social and economic changes, Miles said Wednesday in a Honolulu Star-­Advertiser interview.

“What we’re realizing is that the cost of tuition has gone up considerably. The amount of financial aid that is available to the average student is not keeping pace with the increased cost of tuition and the full set of the cost of attending college,” Miles said. “And the wages that the middle-class and working-class people are receiving are not keeping pace with the escalating cost.”

The survey of UH students, conducted by UH and the Hope Center, found that 58% experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity. About 39% experienced food insecurity in the prior 30 days, 44% experienced housing insecurity in the previous year and 14% experienced homelessness in the previous year.

While college students over generations often have had to live frugally, for some of today’s students the level of deprivation is more severe, Miles said. “In worst-case scenarios, people are actually living in their cars because they can’t afford housing, nor can they afford adequate amounts of food.”

A webinar on key findings about the UH system will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, featuring Sara Goldrick-­Rab, the founder of the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, and an expert on student basic needs insecurity in higher education. Goldrick-Rab will present data from the #Real College Survey, the nation’s largest assessment of students’ basic needs insecurity. Registration is required.