Students face rents that keep rising
In our weekly series on homelessness, this story is the third in a three-part special miniseries about students experiencing homelessness.
CHICO >> Balancing rising rents, a higher cost of living and paying for a college degree, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to be a full-time college student in California. In rural Butte County, particularly after the Camp Fire devastated housing availability and prices, more students may struggle with homelessness than ever before.
Chico State officials say they’ve worked to analyze the size of the homelessness crisis on and around its campus, but there are limited resources available to house students struggling with ongoing housing insecurity.
Homeless while in college
The latest annual Trends in College report found that in 2019, the average published in-state tuition and fees in the public four-year sector in
creased by $230 (2.3% before adjusting for inflation), from $10,210 in 2018-19 to $10,440 in 2019-20. Average total tuition and fee and room and board charges in 2019-20 are $21,950.
While students receive the most financial aid in California out of any other state, their living expenses are also some of the highest in the country.
Students facing housing and employment struggles in Butte County can also continue to face issues paying rent and buying groceries, particularly if they also want to attend college and get a degree.
Housing
According to the report for the Chico State Economic Summit on Jan. 9, about 60% of first-time freshmen stay in university housing. There are a total of 2,244 beds in universityowned property, with 86% allocated to first-time freshman and 14% allocated to transfer students.
In a report by Chico State’s Off-Campus University Housing Director Dan Herbert, each year the university receives
requests for “hundreds more beds than we can accommodate.” The final occupancy lands at roughly 99% for freshman and 93% for transfer students.
Student-purposed housing is experiencing approximately 4% vacancy, according to this report (at the start of the school year, Herbert said 300-500 beds were still open). In total, 53 new student apartment units are under construction for fall 2020, with another 53 approved in the south campus area. These by-the-bedroom projects, fully furnished with all utilities, internet and TV are typically in the $800-$850 per bedroom price range.
Incoming students’ housing choices based on their enrollment status and if they choose housing through the university on or off campus can make it easier to analyze when and where students become homeless. However, once students find other options through outside properties on their own, it is more difficult to measure which are being affected by ongoing rent increases and shrinking availability around Chico.
Helping rural students
A different demographic from around the county is studied for signs of housing
and food insecurity at Butte College. The college has a system in place for meeting students who are struggling to pay rent, buy food or find housing they can afford.
The Roadrunner Hub and the Basic Needs Center has a food pantry, where students can get assistance signing up for CalFresh benefits, and a board to provide housing and roommate options.
When a student requests help with housing, getting them to check the board for current open rooms and roommate options is the first step, Instructional Career Specialist Renee Argetsinger said.
If a student doesn’t have enough money to pay for first month’s rent or a security deposit, they are assigned to a worker for indepth help with other solutions around the county. The Basic Needs Center works with the Housing Authority of Butte County, Chico Housing Action Team and other organizations to connect students with more housing opportunities, depending on if they qualify for Section 8, need a roommate or have to get additional assistance.
Argetsinger said students do not always recognize that if they are in temporary situations like couch surfing or living in their car, they are considered homeless.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses “housing insecurity” as an umbrella term that encompasses several dimensions of housing problems people may experience including affordability, safety, quality, insecurity and loss of housing.
Overall, Butte County has a higher than average rate of housing insecurity among students — at about 70%.
According to the yearly survey by the Hope Center, which had to be updated after the Camp Fire, about 1,500 students were displaced by the Camp Fire, of which 831 lost their home.
• 60% of respondents were food insecure in the prior 30 days;
• Of 71% of respondents that were housing insecure, 18% were turned away from housing opportunity;
• 23% of respondents were homeless.
Overall, 78% of students at Butte College experienced at least one of these forms of basic needs insecurity in the past year. A total of 33% of food insecure students utilize Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and 6% of homeless students utilize housing benefits.
Wildcat students seek options
Chico State is also currently studying the prevalence
of housing insecurity among the student population since before the Camp Fire.
The university’s Basic Needs program features a fresh food bank — each year, the Wildcat Pantry will distribute more than 50 tons of food to an estimated 6,000 students. Joe Picard, administrator of Basic Needs, said about 250 students come in the pantry each day. The pantry also takes unsold food from the school’s cafeterias and dining halls at the end of the day to distribute to students and cut down on waste.
Short-term housing is available through the Basic Needs program for students who temporarily cannot afford to pay rent. If they need emergency shelter, students can get housed for up to two weeks, and must meet a set of criteria to be considered eligible for emergency housing.
Picard said students are then assigned to an intern from the College of Social Work for more in-depth help, and the program will look for solutions for rapid rehousing (a term used for finding shelter for students in high-need situations as quickly as possible).
Picard works with Herbert to address transitional housing needs when a student needs long-term help towards permanent housing.
They often first reach out to local property managers who have openings, and have also worked with the Chico Housing Action Team, Sixth Street Youth Shelter, the Torres Shelter, Jesus Center and Salvation Army to place students in homes.
“Usually we’re very successful with the students we place,” Picard said.
While in transitional housing, students still have access to wrap-around services such as help scheduling counseling and Student Health Center appointments, access to food and enrollment in CalFresh.
Can students afford the basics?
The reality of student homelessness is only growing to be more pervasive as it becomes more difficult to find jobs with sufficient hours and hourly rate of pay to afford all bills along with college tuition. Even a “small, unexpected bill” can be a huge barrier to education, Picard said.
“Less than $250 can derail a student from their educational dreams,” Picard said.
Herbert said the university works with more than 10 local property management companies to find placements for students and ensure them against higher rents or needing a cosigner if possible.
“We encourage students to double up and share rooms — it’s a lot more affordable that way,” Herbert said.
Herbert said that while he has seen some difficulties with students finding jobs, “I find most students are finding jobs,” he said. “But, it’s more expensive to live than it was five or 10 years ago.” That’s why working with local property managers is key to help students have somewhere to go, even temporarily, if they find themselves homeless in Chico.
Picard said the overall need witnessed by the program has been heavily impacted since the Camp Fire. Last school year, 50 students were placed in emergency housing, half of whom were homeless due to disaster-related circumstances. This school year there have been over 50 needing emergency housing and none had disasterrelated circumstances.
Picard said this may be a result of other issues around the community like a lack of housing, as well as an increase in “word of mouth” knowledge of the services offered, as more students learn about the services offered by the university. For now, it’s likely that this high rate of need could continue and students are encouraged to come to to the food pantry and the Basic Needs program for more assistance, Picard said.