Food swaps may be common in the dining hall, but a growing number of college administrators will also accept canned food to forgive student parking citations.

Instead of paying their bad or dangerous parking bills with cash, students can choose to donate non-perishable food items to their institution, which are in turn given to their peers in the campus food pantry.

Higher Education Donations for Citations help combat the insecurity of basic needs among students on campus and raise awareness of how colleagues can support these efforts.

What is needed: The students are more likely to face insecurity of basic needs compared to US adults overall, with between 33 percent and 51 percent of all students experiencing food insecurity, compared to about 10 percent of the general population.

When students cannot afford food or housing, they often have poorer academic performance and overall results. A 2023 report from Trellis Research found that just under half of students who faced financial challenges while enrolled had difficulty focusing on their studies because of their financial situation.

The college pantries are financed mostly by donations or in collaboration with other organizations that provide similar services, such as local food banks or nonprofit groups, making external support essential for continued operation.

How it works: Each campus sets a range or number of food items that a student must donate to apply to their fees. The University of Kentucky requests 10 non-perishable items or five personal care items to waive a $30 citation, while Montclair State University credits a student with $10 in open citations for each item donated. George Mason University rates 10 food products at $20 and five personal care products at $15.

Most institutions limit the types of citations that can be forgiven through pantry donations. The University of Missouri only allows students with an expired meter parking fee or no permit to forgive their debt with donations to the Tiger Pantry.

Some institutions allow students to donate throughout the year to waive fees. Others implement special food drives during the term that target specific items the pantry needs most.

both University of Texas at San Antonio and Cleveland State University hold specific peanut butter campaigns by asking students to donate plastic jars of peanut butter (or other forms of nut butter). West Virginia University PantryThe Rack has an Amazon wish list kept up to date with requested items that can be donated in lieu of paying parking tickets.

Donations are made directly to the office responsible for parking citations, which are then given to the pantry.

to University of Tennessee, Knoxvillethe effort extends beyond students who purchased parking tickets to faculty and staff. Neither should members of the campus community have a fine to give back during fundraisers.

The impact: The initiatives have been very successful in raising donations and encouraging students to give back.

The University of Kentucky has been running Donations for Citations since 2016 and continues to be the largest contributor of food and personal care products to the pantry, according to the data. an October press release from the university.

At Rice Universitystudents donated more than 1,800 articles in 2023, crediting $10,290 in written citations during the fall quarter.

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