History Main / StarvingStudent

* The New England Journal of Medicine described, in the late 1990s, several cases of scurvy (Vitamin C deficiency) seen in students who had chosen a severely restricted diet - consisting almost entirely of instant noodles - because of cost.
* Due to the 2008 economic recession, and still today, many American universities have had to open food banks and pantries to feed their low-income students, some of whom were also homeless or unable to pay the most basic of bills. It is no longer unusual to see or hear about college students going for days without a single meal.
* At the primary and secondary levels in the US, many schools run free lunch programs for low-income students whose families can't afford to feed their kids. Free school lunch programs originated precisely because President Harry S. Truman was so disgusted by the high rate of military enlistees being rejected as a result of medical ailments that were caused by ''childhood malnutrition'', so when someone who is a big fan of military spending speaks disparagingly about school lunches being a waste of the taxpayer's money? The free school lunch program was established in the interest of '''national security.'''
* Some Title I schools are lucky enough to be adopted by charities that provide free breakfasts and lunches on days the schools are closed. Without these programs many of the students would go hungry on weekends and school holidays. http://lunchesoflove.net/about-us/ is an example.
* One of the main functions of the Black Panthers was to provide free hot meals for poverty-stricken black schoolchildren who didn't have any.
* This trope is the reason that some places have laws stating that college students (at least those living on-campus) ''have to'' buy a meal plan from the school (that is built into their financial aid/tuition package, and must be priced affordably). This way, they are at least assured of getting basic meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) in the dining hall. Unfortunately, this simply drives up the cost of education even higher, meaning even if students are no longer hungry thanks to the policies, they now have to deal with a few thousand more in student loans after they graduate.

The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol, or [[MustHaveCaffeine coffee]]). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last. Most of the time, at universities that still even ''have'' cafeterias, students must pay to eat there.

%% * OlderThanPrint: The Clerk of Oxford (essentially a philosophy student) from ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' is an example.

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%% * Basically the entire cast of ''Webcomic/PhD''.

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* Ewon Jung of ''Manhwa/TotallyCaptivated'', an orphaned ScholarshipStudent who falls in with a group of loan sharks, calculates a conman's loan in terms of boxes of ramen at one point and will go along with almost anything for a free meal.

* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', main character Tohru Honda starts out as this. After her mother died, she went to live with her grandfather, but when her grandfather's house goes through renovations she decides to live by herself in a tent while taking up a job as a janitor for an office building. She later moves in with Shigure, Yuki and Kyo Sohma, though she still insists on working.
%% * In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Shino "Sinon" Asada. She [[MinorLivingAlone lives alone]] in her apartment and has to make do with a limited amount of money each month. It's bad enough that she has to admit that selling Hecate, an anti-material rifle in Gun Gale Online that's very powerful rare and of great personal significance to her, would go a long way toward helping ends meet.

* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': In the first chapter, Fuutarou's EstablishingCharacterMoment has him order a yakiniku (steak) menu, holding back the yakiniku itself in his school cafeteria, while mentally congratulating himself for saving money that way. Shortly after we see that his family is very poor, and as a result he's not very picky about what he eats so long as it is edible.

* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', main Tohru Honda starts out as this. After her mother died, she went to live with her grandfather, but when her grandfather's house goes through renovations she decides to live by herself in a tent while taking up a job as a janitor for an office building. She later moves in with Shigure, Yuki and Kyo Sohma, though she still insists on working.

%% * In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', Tohru Honda was this in the first episode, while she was living in a tent.

* A joke has a student to collapse on a street. A crowd immediately assembles and some samaritan starts shouting for water. A student rises his head and says weakly: "And bread…"

* At the primary and secondary levels in the US, many schools run free lunch programs for low-income students whose families can't afford to feed their kids. Free school lunch programs originated precisely because President Harry S. Truman was so disgusted by the high rate of military enlistees being rejected as a result of medical ailments that were cause by ''childhood malnutrition'', so when someone who is a big fan of military spending speaks disparagingly about school lunches being a waste of the taxpayer's money? The free school lunch program was established in the interest of '''national security.'''

* This trope is the reason that some places have laws stating that college students (at least those living on-campus) ''have to'' buy a meal plan from the school (that is built into their financial aid/tuition package, and must be priced affordably). This way, they are at least assured of getting basic meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) in the dining hall. Unfortunately, this simply drives up the cost of education even higher, meaning even if students are no longer hungry thanks to the policies, they now have to deal eith a few thousand more in student loans after they graduate.

* This trope is the reason that some places have laws stating that college students (at least those living on-campus) ''have to'' buy a meal plan from the school (that is built into their financial aid/tuition package, and must be priced affordably). This way, they are at least assured of getting basic meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) in the dining hall.

* Marie Curie while attending the Sorbonne -- which was actually a mostly ''free university'', as it is today. She really did live in a garret in the Latin Quarter, surviving on pennies and often [[ForgetsToEat forgetting to eat]]. She passed out at least once at school (between classes, not during class as in the movie).
* The New England Journal of Medicine described, in the late 1990s, several cases of scurvy (Vitamin C deficiency) seen in students who had chosen a severely restricted diet - consisted almost entirely of instant noodles - because of cost.
* Due to the 2008 economic recession, many American universities have had to open food banks and pantries to feed their low-income students, some of whom were also homeless or unable to pay the most basic of bills. It is no longer unusual to see or hear about college students going for days without a single meal.
* At the primary and secondary levels in the US, many schools run free lunch programs for low-income students whose families can't afford to feed their kids. Free school lunch programs originated precisely because President Harry S. Truman was so disgusted by the high rate of military enlistees being rejected as a result of medical ailments that were cause by ''childhood malnutrition'', so when someone who is a big fan of military spending speaks disparagingly about school lunches being a waste of the taxpayer's money? The free school lunch program was established in the interest of national security.

The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last.

This trope is often TruthInTelevision, as college loans are very expensive (growing moreso in some places) and keep many students in debt for years. This results in years of struggling to get by just to pay off their education, which has a higher priority than buying food. In some places students have to study so much and so hard they simply ''don't have time'' to work, and when their families aren't well-off either, this trope comes into play. In fiction, it is generally played for comedy, especially when the character is also a BigEater, but it can be milked for drama at the drop of a hat.

This trope is often TruthInTelevision, as college loans are very expensive (growing moreso in some places) and keep many students in debt for years. This results in years of struggling to get by just to pay off their education, which has a higher priority than buying food. In fiction, it is generally played for comedy, especially when the character is also a BigEater, but it can be milked for drama at the drop of a hat.

* Most of the cast of ''Manga/HoneyAndClover'', especially because they're [[StarvingArtist art students]].

* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', Tohru Honda was this in the first episode, while she was living in a tent.
* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Shino "Sinon" Asada is this, since she [[MinorLivingAlone lives alone]] in her apartment and has to make do with a limited amount of money each month. It's bad enough that she has to admit that selling Hecate, an anti-material rifle in Gun Gale Online that's very powerful rare and of great personal significance to her, would go a long way toward helping ends meet.

* This is why Laura of ''Film/StudentServices'' goes into prostitution.

** The same story is told in Central Asia and Middle East about [[TheTrickster Hojja Nasreddin]] when he was appointed as a judge.

* Another one has a student to collapse on a street. A crowd immediately assembles and some samaritan starts shouting for water. A student rises his head and says weakly: "And bread…"
* An old and popular saying among German students goes follows: "Eltern! Wollt ihr mich noch retten, schickt mir Geld und Zigaretten."[[note]]"Parents! If you want to save me, send me money and cigarettes."[[/note]]

* OlderThanPrint: The Clerk of Oxford (essentially a philosophy student) from ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' is an example.
* Raskolnikov from ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'' was like this.

* Marius from ''Literature/LesMiserables'' becomes this after he's kicked out by his grandfather. Many of the other students help him out at various points, especially Courfeyrac who shares a flat with him for a while.
** Although, considering the poverty many of the ''other'' characters face, Marius's plight doesn't seem too bad by comparison.

* Taken to ridiculous extremes (like everything else) in ''Series/TheYoungOnes''.
* In ''Series/ThreesCompany'', this is why Jack moves in with the girls. He's a starving cooking school student.
** Very easily a TruthInTelevision, as good cooking schools can be ''ridiculously'' expensive. Though students are usually able to eat their projects afterwards.

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* Symon, the titular character from ''Der Bettelstudent'' (The Beggar Student).

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* In ''VideoGame/BrokenSword'' Nico mentions that she had to drop out of university because of this trope (she couldn't afford art supplies, although she was able to eat potatoes when she was doing printing with them).
* You play one in ''VideoGame/TheTrailOfAnguish'', forcing you to stay in a rundown dorm.
* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive: Dimensions'' reveals that Kasumi attempted to be an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent in-between the events of ''3'' and ''4'', but it doesn't work out very well; Kokoro finds her collapsed on the road with a high fever.

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* Basically the entire cast of ''Webcomic/PhD''.

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* Foul Bachelor Frog is a [[MemeticMutation meme]] (of the [[ImageMacro advice dog]] variety) which shows a frog making comments on the stereotypical college student's life. Part of the memes are about this trope, while others are about WackyFratboyHijinx or ADateWithRosiePalms. (At other times, Foul Bachelor Frog is just ''[[TheSlacker lazy]]'': several of the memes are about how he has lots of food in the fridge, but chooses to starve because none of it can be prepared in less than two minutes. Or else he is rich enough to order take-away all the time because he doesn't have any clean plates.)

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* Marie Curie was literally one of these while attending the Sorbonne -- which was actually a mostly ''free college,'' as it is today. She really did live in a garret in the Latin Quarter, surviving on pennies and often [[ForgetsToEat forgetting to eat]]. She passed out at least once at school (between classes, not during class as in the movie).

* Due to the 2008 economic recession, many American universities have had to open food banks and pantries to feed their low-income students, some of whom are also homeless or unable to pay the most basic of bills. It is no longer unusual to see or hear about college students going for days without a single meal.
* Likewise, at the primary and secondary levels in the US, many schools run free lunch programs for low-income students to avert this trope.
** In fact, free school lunch programs originated precisely because President Harry S. Truman was so disgusted by the high rate of military enlistees being rejected as a result of medical ailments that were cause by ''childhood malnutrition'', so when someone who is a big fan of military spending speaks disparagingly about school lunches being a waste of the taxpayer's money? [[WrongGenreSavvy The free school lunch program was established in the interest of national security.]]
** Some Title I schools are lucky enough to be adopted by charities that provide free breakfasts and lunches on days the schools are closed. Without these programs many of the students would go hungry on weekends and school holidays. http://lunchesoflove.net/about-us/ is an example.
** Until relatively recently, few people were aware that one of the main functions of the Black Panthers was to provide free hot meals for poverty-stricken black schoolchildren who didn't have any.
* In some places students have to study so much and so hard they simply ''don't have time'' to work, and when their families aren't well-off either, this trope comes into play.
* This trope is also the reason that some places have laws stating that college students (at least those living on-campus) ''have to'' buy a meal plan from the school (that is built into their financial aid/tuition package, and must be priced affordably). This way, they are at least assure of getting basic meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) in the dining hall.
* Ironically, Creator/JulesVerne ''wasn't'' one in his student years, as his father, a wealthy country lawyer, supported him in hopes of Jules inheriting his law practice. It's only after Jules turned to literature and dropped out of law school, that Verne-senior withdrew the support, making his son a [[StarvingArtist starving]] ''[[StarvingArtist artist]]'' for a time, until he found a steady day job as a stockbroker, where he worked for several years until making it big with the ''Literature/FiveWeeksInABalloon''.
* While he was [[StarvingArtist a working writer]] and not a student, Creator/HPLovecraft existed on pennies much of the time and was pretty ingenious about contriving meals. He got all excited when he had to buy an oil heater for his New York apartment and found out it came with a stove attachment so he could have ''"hot dinners! No more cold beans and spaghetti for me!"''

The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last. Though due to the nature of many events that encourage political correctness, they may often be only for women, LGBT or ethnic minorities and bars away men, heterosexuals or Caucasians/whites.

Between tuition and textbooks, rent payments and transit fares, there's only so much money that a poor university student living on bank loans and [[ScholarshipStudent scholarships]] is able to put towards food. Even at schools with free tuition and labs[[note]]the renowned Sorbonne in France ''still'' has free classes for bachelor's and master's degrees, and students get all kinds of perks[[/note]] books still cost something and so do living spaces and heat as well as food. The Starving Student is a staple of higher education settings, where even those lucky enough to have financial support from their parents will still be thinking of money in values of mac and cheese boxes or [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles instant noodles]]. The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last. Though due to the nature of many events that encourage political correctness, they may often be only for women, LGBT or ethnic minorities and bars away men, heterosexuals or Caucasians/whites.

** The same story is told in Central Asia and Middle East about [[TricksterArchetype Hojja Nasreddin]] when he was appointed as a judge.

Between tuition and textbooks, rent payments and transit fares, there's only so much money that a poor university student living on bank loans and [[ScholarshipStudent scholarships]] is able to put towards food. Even at schools with free tuition and labs[[note]]the renowned Sorbonne in France ''still'' has free classes for bachelor's and master's degrees, and students get all kinds of perks[[/note]] books still cost something and so do living spaces and heat as well as food. The Starving Student is a staple of higher education settings, where even those lucky enough to have financial support from their parents will still be thinking of money in values of mac and cheese boxes or [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles instant noodles]]. The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last. Though due to the nature of many events that encourage political correctness, they may be often only for women, LGBT or ethnic minorities and bars away men, heterosexuals or Caucasians/whites.

Between tuition and textbooks, rent payments and transit fares, there's only so much money that a poor university student living on bank loans and [[ScholarshipStudent scholarships]] is able to put towards food. Even at schools with free tuition and labs[[note]]the renowned Sorbonne in France ''still'' has free classes for bachelor's and master's degrees, and students get all kinds of perks[[/note]] books still cost something and so do living spaces and heat as well as food. The Starving Student is a staple of higher education settings, where even those lucky enough to have financial support from their parents will still be thinking of money in values of mac and cheese boxes or [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles instant noodles]]. The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last. Though due to the nature of these events, they may often be only for women or ethnic minorities.

Between tuition and textbooks, rent payments and transit fares, there's only so much money that a poor university student living on bank loans and [[ScholarshipStudent scholarships]] is able to put towards food. Even at schools with free tuition and labs[[note]]the renowned Sorbonne in France ''still'' has free classes for bachelor's and master's degrees, and students get all kinds of perks[[/note]] books still cost something and so do living spaces and heat as well as food. The Starving Student is a staple of higher education settings, where even those lucky enough to have financial support from their parents will still be thinking of money in values of mac and cheese boxes or [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles instant noodles]]. The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last.

* Marie Curie was literally one of these while attending the Sorbonne. She actually lived in a garret in the Latin Quarter, surviving on pennies and often [[ForgetsToEat forgetting to eat]]. She passed out at least once at school (between classes, not during class as in the movie).

** In fact, free school lunch programs originated precisely because President Harry S Truman was so disgusted by the high rate of military enlistees being rejected as a result of medical ailments that were cause by ''childhood malnutrition'', so when someone who is a big fan of military spending speaks disparagingly about school lunches being a waste of the taxpayer's money? [[WrongGenreSavvy The free school lunch program was established in the interest of national security.]]

Between tuition and textbooks, rent payments and transit fares, there's only so much money that a poor university student living on bank loans and [[ScholarshipStudent scholarships]] is able to put towards food. The Starving Student is a staple of higher education settings, where even those lucky enough to have financial support from their parents will still be thinking of money in values of mac and cheese boxes or [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles instant noodles]]. The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol). Universities do offer free food at special events, finals stress relief weeks, and conferences (mainly to lure in attendance) but students frequently must RSVP for that event in advance and there's only food while supplies last.

Between tuition and textbooks, rent payments and transit fares, there's only so much money that a poor university student living on bank loans and [[ScholarshipStudent scholarships]] is able to put towards food. The Starving Student is a staple of higher education settings, where even those lucky enough to have financial support from their parents will still be thinking of money in values of mac and cheese boxes or [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles instant noodles]]. The starving student will often have a rigid budget and spend their entire academic career just scraping by for necessities like clothing and food (but not, of course, for alcohol).

* While he was a working writer and not a student, Creator/HPLovecraft existed on pennies much of the time and was pretty ingenious about contriving meals. He got all excited when he had to buy an oil heater for his New York apartment and found out it came with a stove attachment so he could have ''"hot dinners! No more cold beans and spaghetti for me!"''

* Implied with Malcolm in ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', who is last seen in the finale quite cheerfully slaving as a campus janitor in between attending class -- [[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague at Harvard.]] One of the plotlines of the episode had involved the family worrying that they wouldn't be able to afford his tuition and the choice between getting an education and going on to do great things, or taking a corporate job offer with a six-figure salary, so it's a CrowningMomentOfAwesome, not a case of misfortune.