Perspectives

Meeting Basic Needs: An Interview with Sara Goldrick-Rab

The policy expert & sociologist explains how community college leaders can help students succeed by meeting basic food and housing needs.

ACCT Staff
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Sara Goldrick-Rab is a renowned higher education and sociology expert who has collaborated with ACCT for years on a number of research projects. 

Presently serving as a professor of higher education policy and sociology at Temple University in Pennsylvania, Goldrick-Rab was at the 2017 ACCT Leadership Congress in Las Vegas this September to discuss the prevalence of food and housing insecurty among community college students, and how these unmet basic needs affect students' academic progress and college completion. (Read more about this in our March report, Hungry & Homeless in College: Results from a National Study of Basic Needs Insecurity in Higher Education.)

During the ACCT Congress, Policy Analyst Ivy Love spoke with Goldrick-Rab about these issues, as well as the new Temple University HOPE Center that Goldrick-Rab has established and will soon launch. 

Among her recommendations, Goldrick-Rab suggested that trustees review the Department of Housing and Urban Development guidebook on food and housing insecurity issues, partner with local community organizations to offer resources (which do not necessarily need to be offered directly by the college in order to be easily accessible to students), and more. Watch the full interview below.

Interview Sara Goldrick-Rab from ACCT on Vimeo.

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ACCT Now is the go-to resource for issues affecting community colleges. In addition to reporting and research, you’ll have access to of-the-moment legislative updates. We’ve also included articles, reports, and research from outside sources that benefit the ACCT community.

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