Facing a Lack of Housing, Students Turn to Van Life

As UC students return to campus, too many are doing so without safe and affordable housing. Some students live in vehicles, others are driven further into debt as they balance student loans and skyrocketing housing prices across California. UC leaders say that affordable housing is one of the system’s greatest needs, especially since one third of all UC undergraduates qualify for Pell Grants. There is obviously a massive need for more housing, and an equally massive need for more state investment into higher education. 

It is ridiculous that students are living in their cars and commuting over an hour to get to class. UC students have housing insecurity that MUST be addressed through more grants, more funding for campus housing services, and more resources for at risk students. UCs have a responsibility to house every student in a hotel room before they are forced to live in a car. To do so, they need more funds! 

Nic Coury, for The LA Times

UC housing crisis forces students into multiple jobs to pay rent, sleeping bags and stress

By Teresa Watanabe, LA Times | 9/26/2022