Homeless and In College: A Complicated, Growing and Often Invisible Population

This story was written as our final capstone project for our degree in Journalism.

By Shanti Lerner & Lydia Gingerich

Looking from the outside, Gabe Humason appears to be an average undergraduate student at Ohio State. He comes from a working-class family, has seven siblings, is a military transfer student studying aeronautics, and school is his second home.

But unlike many of his fellow students, for two months during this school year, Humason did not have the basic security and comfort of a room and a bed.

His case is rare, but he isn’t alone.

According to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) database, 815 students were considered homeless in the state of Ohio for the academic year 2016-2017. Beyond the FAFSA data, however, there are no other concrete ways to track exact numbers of homeless college students in the state of Ohio, and more specifically within Ohio State. Homeless students, like Humason, are enrolled in the university, but no one knows exactly how many.

Over the last 4 years, Ohio’s population of students who identify as homeless on FAFSA has remained about the same at around 800 people. The nationwide number, on the other hand, has seen a steep increase. In the academic year 2013-14, the number homeless college students was 29,000, and by 2016-17, it was at 32,000 people. The data for each state has not been released for 2018, but according to FAFSA, the number has almost doubled in size to 58,000 for the nation.

In reality, the numbers from FAFSA only represent one side of homelessness. But there are a myriad of factors that can affect homelessness – which complicates how this issue is able to be recorded by the school or the state.

The needs of these students are also complex and nuanced, changing from student to student. Many homeless students suffer from poor nutrition due to difficulty of access and affordability of nutritious foods. Others experience financial difficulties from a rise in rent that they are simply unable to pay.

While the homelessness of these students range in cause and permanency, the truth remains that these students have to go through higher education without a house to live in for sometimes days, weeks, and even months at a time. There are numerous organizations and scholarships that are available for this growing number of students, but it is hard to meet their needs completely.

At Ohio State, the department of Student Life Advocacy has come across numerous students who suffer with homelessness and hunger, most who self report or show signs of homelessness.

“Every student who comes into our office, we put in their information and then we can keep our notes and history and we assign issues that we’ve helped to address,” Jenn Irwin said, Assistant Director of Student Life Advocacy.

While Irwin was able to talk about numerous cases of student homelessness she has seen over the years, there is currently no formal way of tracking the number of homeless students in the department of Student Life Advocacy.

“When we’re working with students, that’s generally the overview of what we are going to see students on: academic issues,” Irwin said. “But we know that life circumstances often impact academic issues and so we really try to be pretty holistic in our approach. So if we have a student who comes in and says, ‘I’m really struggling in my classes, tell me why’ then we can sort of go into other areas and homeless may come up. Sometimes students will come to us and say that.”

Irwin also noted the complexity of the term, ‘homeless.’

“There’s a difference between ‘I don’t have a place to stay’ and ‘I’m homeless,’” Irwin said.

She said that if someone is struggling with finding an apartment within their budget, or finding a roommate to share rent with, her department can help them out. But if their homelessness stems from larger issues like not being able to keep a job or poverty in their family, the issue is harder to fix.

Students encounter homelessness through a variety of life circumstances. Some are kicked off a lease or out of their home, others lose a job or get in an accident and end up in a vulnerable financial situation, while others come from a family that cannot afford the high costs of college.

After finding that he did not have the funds to pay for on-campus housing, Humason put down his aunt’s address to be able to qualify as a commuting student.

“I was sleeping on his couch for about week, I mean what I thought would be a week, and that turned into two months.”

After applying late to Ohio State, Gabe Humason was admitted two weeks before classes began in the fall of 2018. With his late admission and his monthly government stipend delayed, Humason did not have the time and resources to find housing for the semester with classes just a few days away.

“It was kind of hard to get the living situation sorted out mainly because my aunt was 30 minutes away, there were no campus apartments available when I got admitted and I definitely wasn’t going to live in the dorms for financial reasons,” he said.  “So, I was sleeping on his couch for about week, I mean what I thought would be a week, and that turned into two months.”

Humason’s situation did not only affect his sleeping.  Like many homeless college students, a lack of personal space made it difficult for him to complete his out-of-class assignments.

“I was definitely stressed because I wasn’t sleeping much,” he said. “I spent as much time in the library as I could. OSU has awesome places to study but it was just kind of hard to focus. I felt very unorganized, very detached, all over the place, and really spread out. I was living out of my backpack and trunk of my car for two months. It messed with my grades in a sense that I wasn’t doing the best I could do.”

Like Gabe, many are in similar complicated situations. According to the largest national survey assessing the basic needs security of university students conducted by the Hope Lab, 36% of university students were food insecure in the 30 days preceding the survey and 36% experienced housing insecurity in the last year. This study surveyed over 43,00 students from 66 institutions in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Although the study did not include Ohio State, it’s findings are representative of the seriousness of this issue throughout the nation.

The students who participated in the survey also reported that they took refuge in various places when experiencing homelessness. Some options for housing included homes of friends, relatives, or significant others. However, if none of those options were available, living in cars or motels were the most common places to stay. According to the Hope Lab, out of the 43,000 students that responded, only 1 and 10 of them went to a homeless shelter. A third of those students said that their homelessness was a result of not being able to pay their mortgages or rent, and a fifth of the respondents became unsafe in their previous living accommodations.

“A lot of the times they don’t want to go to the adult shelters because they are preyed upon,” said Irene Hatsu, assistant professor of human nutrition.

“Imagine going to class hungry, and having to think, and having to listen to a faculty member. For a three hour class your stomach is growling,”

But while shelters and temporary living are options, they can only offer so much in terms of safety and nutritional value. Housing insecurity also comes with the risk of becoming malnourished.

In her study of homeless youth, Hatsu studied the basic nutrients that many homeless youth lack which are vital to thriving in the classroom.

“Let me take it a step back first. Having food in the first place. Imagine going to class hungry, and having to think, and having to listen to a faculty member. For a three hour class your stomach is growling,” Hatsu said.

“I have talked to a couple of these kids and they have gone without food for 24 hours,” Hatsu said, referring  to the homeless youth she interviewed for her research. These people do not go to college, but knowing the psychological and physical effects of homelessness, she note that going to college would be even more difficult.

“Our brain is a very nutrient-dependent organ, so a lot of its function is dependent on nutrients that we get from our food. So if you do not have the adequate amount of nutrients, studies have shown, it predisposes them to a lot of mental health challenges,” Hatsu said.

In studying the diets of homeless youth from the ages of 18 to 24, Hatsu found that the most common nutrients missing were D vitamins, which are important for bone strength and protecting against illness. These vitamins can be found in dairy products and fresh vegetables. When a student does not have a refrigerator to store groceries in, or a kitchen to prepare food in, items like milk and veggies are most likely off the table.

“It’s not fair that a student of color or a low economic background will have more challenges to get an education and a degree which will get them the better jobs.”

Janae Parker

Hatsu’s studies found that 85% of homeless males from 18-24 do not take in enough Vitamin D, Calcium, and Magnesium. 88% of females in the same age range are deficient in Vitamin A, B, and D. Hatsu also compared homeless youth with college students by scoring them on a Healthy Eating Index out of 100 points. College students scored 11 points higher on average.

Hatsu also found that many homeless youth struggle with obesity. Much of the affordable and available food is highly processed and filled with simple carbohydrates. This keeps their stomachs full temporarily, but does not provide them with the necessary vitamins and minerals found in fresh food.

Although there are many government-sponsored assistance programs for those experiencing food insecurity, they usually require that people are working a certain amount of hours to qualify for help. A student without dependents can only qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if they work at least 20 hours a week.

According to the Hope Lab study, 26% of food-insecure students at community colleges and 12% at 4-year colleges are receiving benefits from SNAP. But for many homeless students, juggling a part-time job with studies and figuring out where they are going to sleep at night is just not feasible.

Jenea Parker was once a homelessness college student. She experienced  first hand the difficulties of food insecurity and the frustrations of applying for government assisted programs.

“Before I had my daughter, I applied to SNAP as a 20 year old and it didn’t work out at the time because I didn’t meet the specific criteria,” Parker said. “But after I had my daughter they said yes because I had a dependent. So it’s kind of like SNAP doesn’t focus on you as the individual anymore but because you have a child.You have to be at this certain poverty line in order to get SNAP. I think that it missed the mark where we are still at the poverty line but we are also making it.”

If government programs like SNAP are not able to provide for the needs of homeless college students, it is up to non-profit organizations to step in. There is only one 24/7 drop-in center for homeless youth in Central Ohio. It is less than 2 miles east of Ohio State’s main campus. Star House offers a safe place for homeless youth to seek services and begin to establish trust in order to access stabilizing resources such as housing, clinical therapy, and employment opportunities.

Esther Kaplan, a fourth-year student at Ohio State studying comparative studies, volunteers in the Star House art room. Throughout her time there, she has talked to many homeless youth who have been interested in college, but few who are currently enrolled or even know how to apply to higher educational institutions.

“I think it is definitely less common to talk to a youth here that is in school, mostly because they are working and dealing with X amount of outside issues with family or systemic issues where things aren’t as accessible for them,” Kaplan said.

“In the art room I have helped a couple people apply to art school. And I know that college is definitely on a lot of these people’s minds. It’s something that a lot of them strive for, but I think for the most part, the people who come here are working and coming here to get food and a little rest in between whatever they are dealing with outside.”

Kaplan hopes that through resources like the Star House, that are geared specifically toward homeless youth, that young people will be able to go to college.

“Once you meet certain needs you can start to think about other things so this provides a community, a place to get food, a place to rest, or charge your phone. So if people are in school they can do school work here,” Kaplan said.

Kaplan said that when she hears the homeless youth who come to Star House talk about going to college, most of them are considering Columbus State Community College (CSCC) as a cheaper alternative to Ohio State.

Janae Parker, who just graduated from CSCC, realized that community college was a more affordable option. When she went to the University of Toledo straight out of high school, Parker found that going to college amounted to more than just the bill at the beginning of the year. She would have to pay for books, food, transportation, and other necessities that came with being a student. Most of her fellow peers knew this and seemed more prepared, but no one else in Jenae’s family had ever been to college, which left her at a disadvantage.

“I don’t want to say that I didn’t know I didn’t come from money, but I knew we didn’t have a lot of money. And I don’t think I understood that maybe that it was a systemic issue that it wasn’t just us,” Parker said.

After trying to start college again a few years later, this time as a single parent and after recently losing her mother, she got kicked out of her apartment for paying her rent two weeks late, even though that was the first time she was late on her payment. Not being able to sign another lease, she lived in an apartment in her brother’s name and lived in constant fear of that information getting into the wrong hands and ultimately getting kicked out.

In March of this year, Parker testified on Capitol Hill about her experience in a system she deemed as broken and in favor of those who are in  a higher socioeconomic class.

“It’s not fair that a student of color or a low economic background will have more challenges to get an education and a degree which will get them the better jobs,” Parker said.

But Parker is not depressed about the situation. She is hopeful.

“Yes, it’s a big issue, but I actually see it as an opportunity to use my voice and speak up and that’s really important” Parker said. “The awareness is the biggest piece. The more pressure that we put on people that are making the decisions about students, I think eventually there will be change.”

Parker sees the importance in highlighting systemic issues such as racism, university affordability, and the gap between socioeconomic classes as a path to preventing the growing number of homeless students in college.

As the complexity and frequency of homelessness in college becomes more apparent, Parker hopes that this awareness will allow this currently invisible population to be recognized by both universities and the government.

“College has taught me so much about my health and my finances,” Parker said. “There’s so many generational issues that keep getting passed on. If there were more people in our generation being educated, we could tell the next generation how to succeed. There is so much power in knowledge and that’s not fair to keep that from someone.”