How Homeless College Students Get by at California's Humboldt State | NowThis

For a shocking number of students, the college experience means living in your car to avoid massive debt. These two students showed us how they get by while homeless and in college.

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1 in 5 college students at Humboldt State University in California are homeless. It's among the worst-affected public colleges in a nationwide crisis. This is what they face every day.

Jasmine is a 23-year-old kinesiology major at Humboldt. She's been living homeless amongst her peers for a year and is open with friends about it to learn who is going through something similar. She has a full ride academic scholarship. She carries what would be her bedroom closet in a shoulder bag.

California's unaffordable housing crisis and the rising cost of college are putting students in a rough spot. An estimated 50,000 students in the California State University system are experiencing homelessness.

Nolan is a junior at Humboldt state studying geology but you'd never know that he's homeless. Nolan lives out of his car. According to Jasmine, 3 or 4 students can be seen sleeping in their cars in the parking lot overnight.

Chante Catt, off-campus housing liaison at HSU, blames the local student homelessness on the housing stock, Airbnb, and the policies and practices of the property managers in the area. Nolan and Jasmine have avoided taking out students loans to pay for housing because of the future financial burden.

#College #Collegestudents #Homeless #Homelessness #Homelessstudents

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@nowthisoriginals

[symbolic]

slept under a bridge for 4 months last year while attending college. never gave up and now im 1 year away from a bachelor degree.

edit: wow i totally forgot making this comment. for anyone wondering, i became homeless again during covid but was still able to graduate in 2022 and have almost saved up enough to get off the street for good 👍🏾

[AkilisMusic]

The worst part of it all is that once they do get that degree, the real struggle to find a job in their field begins.

[Princess-Lavender]

I went through this as well last semester at CU Boulder, where a housing crisis is occurring as well. Luckily I had a kind, caring friend who let me crash on her couch for a bit so I wasn’t sleeping in my car. What’s not mentioned in this video is how incredibly hard it is to complete schoolwork and focus on academic success when your basic needs aren’t being met. It’s depressing that when those of us without generational wealth try and get an education to set us up for a better future, we are met with these incredibly hard obstacles that many of our peers do not even have to think about. College should not just be for the wealthy, or even just for the middle class. We all deserve an equal opportunity to access education and housing.

[zaylahx]

Something I’m proud of with my university is when one of our dorms blew up over the summer and students didn’t know where to stay for the fall semester they literally rented out 2 entire hotels for students to stay at as the dorm was being rebuilt

[goldbristow]

it's like they're being punished for getting an education.

[counterking]

when that guy said, "Actually your my first house guest" man my heart broken into pieces.

[hazel-hanavu]

I hope they all graduated and became super successful in the field of study they were pursuing. Mad respect to the fighters featured in this video and anyone who was and is going to college without a home. I truly hope that you guys are doing amazing!

[BeverlyTalley]

we need big money/companies to not be able to buy single-family homes. Honestly, there should be regulation over this, its just disgusting. Most times it amazes me greatly how I moved from an average lifestyle to earning over $63k per month, Utter shock is the word. I have understood a lot in the past few years that there are lots of opportunities in the financial market. The only thing is to know where to invest.

[richmondgacusan]

Slept on an abandoned building 1.5 kms away from school. I was the only homeless person in my university so they don't even know i was homeless. I graduated 4 yrs ago and now I can afford a three-bedroom apartment all by myself and my dogs. Never give up on your dreams.

[boratsagdiyev]

"It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

[hudrovlogs]

I had to go through this at 23 years old as well and I can attest that It’s a hard mental battle. Especially being a veteran, I had no one to call on and was starving myself for days. I remember selling my phone to the ecoatm for food money. Im 25 now and I make about 70k a year. Life gets better, some of us just have to start from the bottom

[chad]

I remember when I went to college it was absolute culture shock. I worked full time and went to school full time to support myself. I literally would get off work, then go to school, get home and study until 3-4am and get up at 7am the next day.

I was lucky that my rent was around $1, 000 but now rent for a studio apartment has sky rocketed so much that it's insane.
There are those college kids who are lucky and get everything paid for by their parents, but for the ones that struggle and want to go to the school they love and the major they want to grow and change the world in, my hearts out to those kids.

[shinlanten]

*_"They don't know how many students apply for housing assistance"_*

That's a problem

[Enoughyoufool]

These are the type of students that deserves a successful life ahead.

[yk--pop]

As a Dutch person I truly can’t fathom this is happening in the United States 😣 I feel so bad for these kids being denied a basic human right: a home.

[chewbacshakur]

The students are truly admirable for overcoming these obstacles and creating their own ecosystem. As a California native living in the San Francisco Bay area, I’ve given up on going to school. Too many of my friends owe thousands of dollars in debt and some of them can’t even find jobs. Those who can’t find jobs with bachelors, end up going back to school because it’s their only option but in the process they rack up more debt. At this point in life I am thoroughly convinced it’s not what you know, but who you know.

[moooo]

These students are insanely admirable, but they shouldn’t have to go through this.

[tubbylopez]

Seeing this makes me mad about the rich people who bribed officials to get their kids into good colleges

[Garf_Official]

And now returning students have no access to safe and accessible housing since the school is forcing them to live in motels off campus. On top of that, as of right now, 2, 000+ students will need housing next semester and there’s only 300 hotel rooms available. It’s next to impossible to rent an apartment now, so I have no idea what’s going to happen. This is insane.

[merk]

Currently attending the school, and a part of Student Government. This is still happening, the college is evicting students to make room for freshmen and transfer students. Students cannot get housing and even if they have the money, finding a place is insanely difficult. I've applied to 7 places in total that I can afford, yet still, no one is accepting students for housing. Can't believe this university is doing this... (February 7, 2023)