Why Meal Vouchers Matter for Academic Success: Advancing Our Conceptual Understanding of Well-Being

Institutions of higher education are employing various basic needs interventions, including meal vouchers, to assist students experiencing food insecurity and promote student success. However, little is known about how these programs work to affect student outcomes. Drawing from previous observational studies, we conceptualize students’ well-being, consisting of physical health, mental health, and sense of belonging, as a multi-pathway mechanism that facilitates the academic outcomes of a meal voucher program (MVP). This mixed-methods research employs interview, focus group, and survey data from a longitudinal multimethod study of a campus MVP, to interrogate whether and how well-being, as an underlying mechanism, may contribute to the academic success of students at high risk of food insecurity. We find evidence that the MVP positively influenced students’ physical and mental health, and their sense of belonging, and suggest ways that our conceptualization of well-being can be used to inform practice and policy.