Homeless crisis at California colleges hurts Hispanic and black students most, report says

California’s Black and Hispanic college students are most likely to face homelessness while in school, according to a new California Student Aid Commission analysis.

Thirty-five percent of the students surveyed reported an experience with homelessness, according to the California Student Aid Commission’s 2018-2019 Student Expenses and Resource Survey.

More than half of them, 61 percent, were either black or Hispanic, despite representing only 49 percent of the students surveyed.

White students represented close to a fifth of those with homeless experiences, Asian students 8 percent and those of two or more races 11 percent. Combined, the three make up half of the student population.

Black and Hispanic students also ranked among the most likely to access Pell or Cal Grants and programs like CalFresh.

Seventy percent of homeless students were at least 22 years old and those with dependents reported greater instances of housing insecurity.

Students who don’t have a stable living situation are more likely to drop out of school, persevere in class and obtain their credits, the report noted.

‘Many students do not have the financial means to cover college costs, nor do they have access to sufficient aid,” wrote Marlene L. Garcia, executive director of the commission, in the report. “In many cases, they are skipping meals, sleeping in cars, or otherwise going deeper into poverty – all in the name of pursuing higher education.”

Unreliable housing options

The details of California’s near-homeless or homeless student population follow a 2018-2019 Student Expenses and Resource Survey released this fall by the commission. It showed more than a third of California’s students have experienced both low food security and unreliable housing situations within the last month of being surveyed.

Of the 150,000 students within California Community Colleges, public universities, independent institutions and private entities, 15,419 responded to specific questions on their experiences paying for housing and food.

The new analysis, released on Thursday, also demonstrated a nearly non-existent difference in the cost of on- and off-campus housing, with students reporting that they pay an average $1,235 to live on their school’s site, while $1,244 pay to live off-site.

Students also revealed how housing costs affect their ability to pay for other expenses.

Nearly a quarter of students said that they had not paid the full amount on their gas, oil or electricity bill within the last 30 days. Another 18 percent said they faced a burdened rent or mortgage increase and 10 percent said they hadn’t paid their housing bill in full or at all.

“It’s been tough and hard to eat balanced meals and have a stable place to live,” one student from the East Bay is quoted saying in the analysis. “I had to couch surf for several weeks and sleep in my car due to lack of money.”

Housing insecurity ranked the greatest in the greater Sacramento and Central Valley regions, while students are the most challenged by food security in the Northern Inland area.

Expanding financial aid

The commission’s findings coincide with efforts out of the Legislature to amplify California’s financial aid system. The Assembly Select Committee on Student Debt convened on Wednesday to learn more about the costs associated with higher education.

Advocates testified that while California’s assistance options are robust, they fall short of helping students pay for ever-increasing costs that make higher education unattainable for some.

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, who called the report’s findings “alarming,” also authored Assembly Bill 1314 last year to reform the Cal Grant program and make it easier to be eligible for the aid.

The legislation, which failed to pass during the 2019 session, would have consolidated the three types of awards, expanded the aid to summer terms and considered a formula that factors the total cost of attendance into the grant. McCarty said AB 1314 will be reconsidered next year.

“What we’re seeing today is the reality where college students face a tremendous burden of costs when it comes to housing, books, food and other non-tuition expenses,” McCarty said. “One way we can provide relief at the state-level is to expand non-tuition grants to help cover these costs. From in our own backyard of Sacramento to across the state, we are failing to provide our students with the opportunity to succeed in higher education.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Homeless crisis at California colleges hurts Hispanic and black students most, report says."