| dc.description.abstract | A major issue faced by many college students is food insecurity. Students who lack quality food often have lower grades and poorer mental health than those who have access to the food they need. The First Year Eats (FYE) program at Texas A&M University aims to address this problem by providing freshman students in need with food and cooking lessons. The goal is to help students not only have quality food, but also learn skills that will help them be healthier and more confident in general. In the past three years, this program has been evaluated to determine its effect. A comparison of FYE to non-FYE freshmen showed that FYE students tend to achieve higher grades, be less stressed and have better emotional wellbeing. To continue this research, I have analyzed sophomore students, comparing those who were formerly in FYE to those who were not. I used a student wellbeing survey and two years of sophomore grades to identify differences between these two populations. Results showed that former FYE students still had higher GPAGPRs in the first semester of their sophomore year than non-former-FYE students. This indicates that the impact of the FYE program lasts beyond just the time that students are involved in it. Furthermore, those students who had participated in FYE also reported being more likely to consider health when shopping at the grocery store, compared to students who were not in FYE. Lastly, results indicated that FYE students were less likely to withdraw from the university within their first 4 semesters. In the future, it would be of interest to compare graduation rates between FYE students and non-FYE students. As the program grows and develops, researchers could also investigate which methods are most effective in increasing participation and involvement. Additionally, based on the promising results from this study, it would be encouraged for other colleges to adopt similar programs that could achieve positive effects on their students as well. | |
