Going to college is tough for many students under normal circumstances. But for tens of thousands of young Californians today, it’s beyond difficult. It’s financially and physically perilous.
Faced with tuition escalation and fast-rising rents – particularly in Sacramento – higher-education students find themselves struggling to get a decent night’s sleep, find permanent shelter and put food in their stomach so they can focus enough in class to make it to graduation. Nearly 40 percent of Sacramento-area college students struggle to find affordable housing.
At Sacramento State, where many students are on low-income Pell grants, security guards look the other way when they encounter students sleeping in a 24-hour study hall. Students live in their cars, emergency shelter beds and, in one extreme case, a storage locker.
An expanded food pantry serves thousands of students; a discreet exit allows them to leave with their groceries without having to walk through the Student Union. And the school’s catering staff text messages students when there are leftovers from university luncheons so the kids can grab food before it’s thrown out.
Housing insecurity has become California higher education’s not-so-hidden crisis.
Statewide, one out of three students struggles to afford rent after paying for tuition, books, food, and transportation, according to a new study by the California Student Aid Commission. Sacramento and the Central Valley in particular are an epicenter of collegians on the edge. About 38 percent of students at Sacramento State, UC Davis and local community colleges report they struggle to find affordable housing. Overall in the Central Valley, 41 percent report what officials call “housing insecurity.”
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