Helping CUNY students with housing helps their studies

Isabella is just like any college student across the country. She enrolled at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn with dreams of earning a degree and becoming a nurse. But like many students, Isabella ran into obstacles that made it challenging to keep up with schoolwork and stay on track to graduate. Isabella was struggling to make ends meet, working as well as attending classes and living in a studio apartment with four other people. Her housing situation made it untenable for her to focus and achieve her goals.

If you visit any campus in the City University (CUNY) system, you might meet hundreds of students like Isabella. A 2019 Hope Center survey reported that 14% of CUNY students — close to 34,000 young people — had experienced homelessness in the previous year, and 55% experienced housing insecurity.

This problem isn’t unique to New York — 14% of college students nationally have reported experiencing homelessness. And despite homelessness being a significant obstacle standing in the way of millions of Americans completing their education, outside of a state-funded initiative in California, little has been done to address it.

While tuition at CUNY has remained affordable, and most students receive financial aid, there are still high costs that students must bear. CUNY estimates that the average student not living with their family must pay $25,187 in non-tuition expenses per academic year. Not surprisingly, research shows that most students who drop out of school do so because of financial barriers, including housing insecurity and homelessness, which make it difficult to attend class.

Students who drop out will have a far less financially secure future than their peers who earn a degree. A 2021 report from The Center for An Urban Future found that New York City residents with a bachelor’s degree earn twice as much as those with only a high school diploma. And while more than 70% of CUNY students are from households earning less than $30,000 a year, the average CUNY graduate with an associate degree or bachelor’s degree earns $55,100 and $65,165, respectively.

These figures demonstrate not only the importance of completing that academic credential but also CUNY’s unique ability to change the trajectory of the lives of its students. We have an amazing tool at our disposal to help break the cycle of poverty. Yet, for so many students, that tool is out of reach.

That is why the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter has launched a pilot to house CUNY students who are pursuing a degree while struggling with the challenges of homelessness and housing insecurity. Since last fall, 16 students, most enrolled at Medgar Evers College, have moved into apartments in Long Island City, where they’ll no longer have to worry about having a stable roof over their heads while they pursue their academic goals. The program can house up to 32 students.

In addition to housing, we will provide students with a support system that addresses homelessness and housing insecurity issues. Residents will have access to on-site support staff, including a social worker; connections with necessary social services and benefits; resources for mental and physical health, academic and employment support and financial assistance; and mentoring and networking opportunities.

The overall cost of this pilot is less than $30,000 per resident — a small investment compared to the long-term enhanced earning potential a degree will provide to these students. It is also significantly less than the average annual cost of housing one adult in a New York City homeless shelter for one year, which is $50,370.

Students like Isabella are remarkably resilient and driven. They deserve to be commended for their determination to complete their studies in the face of tremendous challenges. If we, as a society, make a relatively modest, short-term investment in these students today, we can help ensure that they obtain the academic credentials that can lift them — and future generations of their families — out of poverty.

Shalof is the chief executive officer of the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter