Public colleges could get hunger grants if campuses qualify and funds allow

Indiana’s higher education commission would give grants to colleges with a designated hunger-free campus. Only Indiana state educational institutions could receive these grants. Grants require enough money in the fund. A campus would need a hunger group with student members that meets three times a school year and sets two goals. It would also need SNAP food aid guidance, places to use SNAP or information about nearby places, a hunger awareness event, a pantry or other food help without stigma, donated meal credits or free food vouchers, and twice-yearly hunger surveys and reports. These grant rules would start July 1, 2026, if the bill becomes law.

The commission would favor colleges with more Pell Grant recipients and require grant recipients to report their results. These rules would apply to state colleges seeking or receiving hunger grants. Recipients would have to use the money to address student hunger and related needs, then report how they spent it and what happened. The commission would set the reporting schedule.

The state would set aside money for hunger grants and direct later transfers from the higher education commission’s budget. The money would go to the hunger-free campus grant fund. The later transfers would come from money budgeted for the commission in those years. The first amount covers July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. The transfers apply to the 2027–28 and 2028–29 state budget years.