Minnesota Office of Higher Education Awards $360,000 to Address Food Insecurity on College Campuses

St. Paul, Minn. — Today, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) awarded nine colleges with 2026 Hunger Free Campus grants, totaling $360,000. Grantees include private, non-profit institutions and Tribal colleges located across the state.

“For too many Minnesota students, food insecurity is a daily concern,” OHE Commissioner Dennis Olson said. “This initiative is helping students access the nutrition they need to focus on their studies and finish their program. I look forward to a day when every campus in the state is hunger free.”

The Hunger Free Campus grant program was established to address food insecurity at private, non-profit postsecondary institutions and tribal colleges in Minnesota. The law governing the grant program is located in Minnesota Session Laws 2025 1st Special Session Ch 5, Art 1, Subd. 25 which appropriates funds to OHE to award grants to nonprofit private postsecondary institutions and Tribal colleges. 

Grant funds must be used for eligible expenses that support, fulfill, or sustain the following Hunger Free Campus requirements:

• Maintain an on-campus food pantry or partnership with a local food bank to provide regular, on-campus food distributions
• Provide information to students on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), and other programs that reduce food insecurity
• Notify students in work-study employment of their potential eligibility for SNAP benefits and provide information to those students about eligibility criteria and how to apply for benefits
• Hold or participate in one hunger awareness event per academic year
• Provide emergency assistance grants to students
• Establish a hunger task force that meets a minimum of three times per academic year and that includes at least two students currently enrolled at the institution

Awarded colleges are also required to match the award by at least 50% through in-kind or monetary contributions.

The 2026-2027 Hunger Free Campus Grant recipients are:

• Augsburg University
• $50,000
• Carleton College
• $30,954
• College of St. Scholastica
• $17,600
• Concordia College
• $44,516.19
• Herzing University
• $49,941.81
• Macalester College
• $50,000
• Red Lake Nation College
• $38,988
• St. Catherine University
• $50,000
• St. Olaf College
• $28,000

Learn more about the Hunger Free Campus Grants on the OHE website.

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