Dissertations and Theses
Date of Degree
12-18-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Community Health and Social Sciences
Advisor(s)
Meredith Manze, PhD, MPH
Committee Members
Nevin Cohen, PhD, MCRP
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, MPH
Subject Categories
Public Health
Keywords
college students, essential needs, peer navigation
Abstract
Across the United States, many college students live with unmet essential needs, including food, housing, healthcare, and mental health support. When students do not have their essential needs met, negative outcomes range from poor academic performance to adverse effects on mental and physical health. Current research focuses on siloed unmet needs, ignoring the holistic experiences of students with multi-faceted lives.
This dissertation explores college students’ efforts to seek and receive resources to meet their essential needs, with a focus on three public schools in the Bronx, New York. This multi-methods study aimed to understand how unmet needs posed challenges in college students’ lives, what pathways they took to receive support on campus, in the community, or within their local networks, and the extent that the CUNY Comprehensive Access to Resources for Essential Services (CARES) program – a peer navigation model designed to link students to services at CUNY and beyond – helped meet their essential needs. I conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) with two- and four-year college students (n=24), moderated one focus group at each of the three demonstration project schools (n=15) with two- and four-year college students, and administered a survey (n=213) among students who had initiated the peer navigation process with CUNY CARES. IDIs and focus group data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and, for survey data, I analyzed descriptive statistics and examined bivariate relationships (bivariate description) of factors associated with the extent students received services to meet their essential needs.
In the interviews, students shared their experiences navigating piecemeal service programs and challenging application processes that would deter them from pursuing further support. They also described the short-term tactics taken to urgently address their essential needs. Students made difficult choices about how they would use their limited resources of time and money to get what they needed, while also determining what they could live without. Several students developed coping strategies to overcome the barriers posed by burdensome, time-consuming solutions presented by the government-funded safety net.
Focus group discussions suggested that there was no one pathway taken to receive support; students tap into various networks, including campus, community, and family to meet their needs. Students made several suggestions for how access to support could be strengthened on campus (e.g., more high-touch faculty advisement, greater advertising of services, easily accessible contact list of resources available online). To receive services to meet their essential needs, students suggested that there be a centralized place to ask for help through campus with one point of contact would be ideal to help streamline the process of getting services.
Of the 213 survey respondents who had met with a peer navigator, factors significantly associated with a high extent a student received services needed to meet their essential needs were that: they felt supported by CUNY CARES navigator (p< 0.001), they experienced a short wait time to see a navigator (74%; p< 0.001), the navigator understood the student’s needs (68%; p< 0.001), the navigator made student aware of services (68%; p< 0.001), navigator connected student with services needed (73%; p< 0.001), they found it helpful for student to talk to another student (71%; p< 0.001), and the student left with a clear understanding of next steps (70%; p< 0.001). There was also a significant relationship between referral to a service on campus or in the community and whether the student was able to receive the services needed from the provider (22%; p< 0.001). Student feedback from the survey suggests that CUNY has created a positive student experience via peer navigation; when a student feels seen, respected, and informed, they are more likely to receive the services they need to meet their essential needs. Forthcoming policy changes and curtailed federal and state funding for nonprofit services may heighten the barriers students face meeting their essential needs. To counteract these changes and reliably link students to the support required to meet their essential needs, institutions of higher education should consider implementing peer navigation programs that streamline access to services on campus and in the community.
Recommended Citation
Huber, Dana L., "College Students’ Experiences Seeking Support to Meet their Essential Needs: Assessing Opportunities to Link Students to Services Through the CUNY CARES Bronx Demonstration Project" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/sph_etds/123
