What are basic needs?
Students’ basic needs include access to nutritious and sufficient food; safe, secure, and adequate housing—to sleep, study, cook, and shower; healthcare to promote sustained mental and physical well-being; affordable technology and transportation; resources for personal hygiene; and childcare and related needs.
Basic needs security means that there is an ecosystem in place to ensure that students’ basic needs are met.
Basic needs insecurity (BNI) is a structural characteristic affecting students, not an individual characteristic. It means that there is no ecosystem in place to ensure that students’ basic needs are met.