On Tuesday, NBC’s Today show seized on a highly questionable survey claiming that many college students across the U.S. were being forced to choose between “tuition or food.” Correspondent Jacob Soboroff even went so far as to claim that “The strong U.S. economy is a myth to many American college students.”

“Eating or education? Jacob Soboroff with an eye-opening look at the cost of college and its toll,” co-host Savannah Guthrie teased late in the 7:00 a.m. ET half hour. Just minutes prior to the segment, fellow co-host Craig Melvin repeated the melodramatic sentiment: “Tuition or food? How the rising cost of college is actually forcing some students to make hard choices. And what, if anything, can be done about it?”

Those proclamations echoed a recent New York Times article hyping the story: “Tuition or Dinner? Nearly Half of College Students Surveyed in a New Report Are Going Hungry.”

Introducing the report, Guthrie fretted: “And as this graduation week continues, there’s a troubling trend developing. A new study shows tens of thousands college students cannot afford basic needs, even things like food and rent.” Turning to Soboroff, she noted how the reporter “saw these shocking numbers” and would deliver the “really important story.”

Soboroff warned: “It’s much more prevalent than you might think. The strong U.S. economy is a myth to many American college students.”

He cited the study in question: “Temple University just surveyed over 100 institutions nationwide and get this, over half of the students who responded said recently they literally could not afford meals or housing. Almost 20% had been homeless in the last year.”

Throughout his report, Soboroff highlighted college students lining up for food pantries on campuses in California. He noted one student’s situation: “Hannah used to keep her homelessness and hunger to herself. But now in a college environment, she’s not alone. She’s part of this center that assists food and housing insecure students.”

Following the report, Melvin declared: “You know, I think for a lot of folks watching it’s probably hard to get your head around how it can be that there’s so many college kids who are struggling for food.”

In response, Soboroff actually acknowledged how flawed the survey actually was:

Well, that’s what’s amazing, is that it’s not unusual to go to a campus where you’re going to find a homeless shelter, necessarily, or a food pantry. 45% of students that were surveyed in this national poll, and it was not a scientific poll, but 86,000 kids were surveyed, were food insecure in the previous month, they didn’t have enough money for food. 56% housing insecure in the previous year. And then 20% nationwide said that they were homeless at some point in the previous year. It’s just unbelievable to think about. And we’re talking about college students.

National Review ripped apart the unscientific poll, pointing out the very low response rate and the fact that participants in the survey were actually offered the chance of winning money.

Wrapping up the Today show discussion, Melvin wondered: “What’s the solution? I mean, how do we fix this? I know that’s a big question.” Sounding like a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Soboroff asserted: “This is economic inequality 101. I mean, this is the issue that is facing not just college students, but people all across the country. When we talk to voters, it’s the same thing that they talk about.”

It was not the first time Soboroff sought to dismiss the booming U.S. economy. In January of 2018, the reporter hyped homelessness in America “in some of our most prosperous states.”

Here is a full transcript of Soboroff’s May 21 report: