Balancing the plate and GPA: Exploring food pantry use and academic performance in college students

Objective: To examine the association of the number of campus food pantry visits during the 2023–2024 academic year with the cumulative grade point average (GPA) among undergraduate students. Participants: Administrative records from 573 identified pantry users were linked to registrar GPA data; 485 met the inclusion criteria alongside 3619 nonusers. Methods: Participants using the food pantry were linked to their GPAs obtained from administrative records. Exploratory analyses suggested a curvilinear relationship between the number of food pantry visits and GPA. Results: GPA was lower among students who visited the food pantry 1–9 times than among non-users, though those using the pantry more than 9 times had GPAs similar to non-users. Conclusions: These results highlight the possibility that food pantry use may serve as both a signal of material hardship and a nutritional intervention. Frequent use was not associated with academic decline, raising the possibility that consistent access to resources helps maintain academic continuity.