Welcome to the
Student Basic Needs Coalition
OUR HISTORY
The Student Basic Needs Coalition started as a student organization at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2019. The group originally formed to advocate for solutions to student food insecurity, but quickly found that students on their campus and campuses across the country were facing barriers to food, housing, health, and safety that prevented them from finishing their degrees. In 2020, SBNC at UTK joined forces with a similar group at NC State to launch the Student Basic Needs Coalition as a national nonprofit. We’ve since grown our organization from a presence on 2 campuses to involvement from youth advocates in 15 states. Our student leaders have designed projects ranging from collecting data on food insecurity to implementing free menstrual products, all of which have impacted over 90,000 students… and we are just getting started!
WHAT WE STAND FOR
Vision:
Higher education is a right and should be accessible to all.
Mission:
To empower aspiring, current, and former college students to advocate for a financially inclusive higher education system
Values:
Inclusion, Sustainability, and Allyship
OUR PARTNERSHIPS

Campus Hunger Project
The #FUELHigherEd campaign is a part of the Campus Hunger Project, powered by Challah for Hunger. The Campus Hunger Project, which launched in 2016, is an advocacy training program for college students with the mission to build and train a movement of people to take action to end campus hunger. Our vision is that no college student has to choose between food and their education.
Rise Now
Rise Justice Labs, a program of Rise Now, helps organizations learn how to pass their own laws. This 12 week accelerator program provides training on writing draft legislation, meeting with legislators, creating a campaign plan, and mobilizing communities.
Southern Economic Advancement Project
Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) amplifies existing organizations that are working to create equitable systems in the South. Specifically, they focus on how race, class and gender intersect social and economic policy. We joined their SouthStrong movement, which is a group of Southern organizations advocating for equitable economy recovery post-pandemic.
Today's Students Coalition
The Today’s Students Coalition is a cross-cutting group of policy, advocacy, and membership organizations that have joined forces to push for urgently needed policy changes that will better serve today’s students. SBNC joined the TSC in early 2021.
Interested in Partnering?
Are you a campus, state, or national organization interested in partnering with the Student Basic Needs Coalition? Send us an email at contact@studentbasicneeds.com with a brief description of your organization and we will get back to you ASAP!
OUR NETWORK
