The short version: There’s more going on for community college students than what happens in the classroom, and academics are far from the only reason students drop out. Many are hungry, have unstable housing, are uninsured, or are overwhelmed. Support often exists, but students don’t know it’s there or how to access it. Level All turns food, housing, health, and wellbeing into plain, mobile how-tos that connect students to the help they qualify for, so a life crisis doesn’t have to end an education.
Key takeaways:
- 59% of college students experience at least one form of basic needs insecurity, including 41% facing food insecurity and 48% facing housing insecurity (Hope Center, Temple University, 2024).
- Students facing these barriers are significantly more likely to earn non-passing grades, which makes basic needs a direct retention issue.
- The support usually exists. The gap is awareness. At one California community college, fewer than half of students knew the campus basic needs center existed, and only 15% had used it.
- Level All connects students to food, housing, and health resources they qualify for, and points them to campus support, reaching students who never walk into an office.
Why this matters
The numbers are hard to look away from. The Hope Center at Temple University found that 59% of college students experience at least one form of basic needs insecurity, with 41% facing food insecurity and 48% facing housing insecurity. Students carrying those burdens are significantly more likely to earn non-passing grades, which means basic needs are not a side issue. They are a completion issue, and they show up in your retention data.
Here’s the part colleges can act on now. The support often already exists, from SNAP benefits to campus pantries to health coverage, but students don’t reach it. At one California community college, fewer than half of students even knew the basic needs center existed, and only 15% had ever used it. The barrier isn’t just the need. It’s that no one connects the student to the help in time.
Where Level All earns its keep
Level All closes that awareness gap. It turns the maze of benefits and resources into plain steps students can follow on their phone, and points them toward the campus and community support built for exactly this. It’s the most complete free basic needs toolkit your students have, and it’s already inside the platform.
- Accessing Public Assistance: Food Benefits Walks students through whether they qualify for SNAP and how to apply, so the food support they’re owed stops going unclaimed.
- Get Health Insurance in College Makes coverage make sense and shows students how to get insured, so an illness doesn’t become a withdrawal.
- Renting an Apartment Gives students the practical playbook for finding, affording, and holding onto stable housing.
- Health and Wellness in College Helps students take care of themselves on campus and know where the health resources are.
- How to Feel Less Stressed Gives students everyday tools to manage stress, and points them toward campus counseling and support when they need more than self-help.
No other free platform hands your students this much basic needs guidance in one place. And to be clear, Level All connects students to support and resources. It does not replace your counselors, your aid office, or your basic needs center. It makes sure students actually find them.
How to use it with your students
- Assign it. The basic needs content drops neatly into an onboarding module, an advising session, or a first-year seminar.
- Send it home. Students and families can work through benefits and housing guidance on their own time, which means fewer students slipping through unseen.
- Stack it. Pair it with Level All’s financial aid and money skills content, since basic needs and finances are the same story for most students.
The result: students know what they qualify for, where to turn, and how to ask, before a crisis becomes a reason to leave.
It’s a retention lever, not a nice-to-have. When students’ basic needs are met, they stay enrolled, and they pass their classes. Level All is how you reach every student with that support, including the ones who would never raise their hand.
Help your students get what they need to stay enrolled. Free for every student and family, and already inside Level All. Schedule a demo, or sign up for an upcoming webinar to see it in action.
