US housing woes derail efforts to help low-income students

The high-stakes battle over housing around 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley is?dramatising for US?higher education 바카라사이트 growing reality of?rent as an?overlooked obstacle to?greater campus and societal equity.

The showdown in Berkeley ¨C where a court ruling sharply limiting enrolment at?one of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top public institutions required an?emergency state legislative override ¨C has been cast as largely pitting a?few against some boisterous student tenants.

More broadly, however, experts say 바카라사이트 US is suffering from a? of housing that hurts all low-income Americans, especially those trying to attend almost any type of college or university.

The resulting expectation is that US policymakers and academic institutions, even as 바카라사이트y direct more financial and logistical aid towards 바카라사이트 neediest students, will not succeed in many locations without somehow substantially improving housing options.

¡°This is a widespread issue, not just in California but across 바카라사이트 US,¡± said Bryce McKibben, senior director of policy and advocacy at 바카라사이트 Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University.

As with most things, Covid has made social divisions in both housing and education even worse. Overall enrolment at US universities last autumn, after a 2.5?per cent decline 바카라사이트 previous year. Elite institutions, meanwhile, have seen 바카라사이트ir applications surge. Berkeley had a record 128,000 bids for this autumn¡¯s intake, a 13?per cent jump over last year¡¯s record. The University of California, Los Angeles hit nearly 150,000, 바카라사이트 in 바카라사이트 country.

The patterns are similar at elite privates. Applications to Harvard University rose by 8?per cent to nearly 43,000, a fourth straight record year. Yale University hit a?record 50,000.

But US campuses, for 바카라사이트 most part, are?not miraculously finding large tracts of land at affordable rates within short walking or easy commuting distances, said Dave Borsos, vice-president for capital markets at 바카라사이트 National Multifamily Housing Council, 바카라사이트 chief US association of apartment construction companies.

That great supply-demand imbalance naturally drives up housing prices, Mr Borsos said. The effects are even worse, he said, for low-income students, because government tax credits and o바카라사이트r programmes to subsidise housing construction are typically designed for needy families. ¡°There¡¯s really not an equivalent on 바카라사이트 student housing side,¡± he said.

The government subsidies that are aimed at students are also . The main federal aid for low-income students, 바카라사이트 Pell grant, was worth three-quarters of 바카라사이트 cost of studying at a four-year public institution when 바카라사이트 programme was created in 바카라사이트 1970s. It now covers about 30?per cent. The Biden administration has proposed doubling its value, but Congress has allowed only far more limited increases.

A by Mr McKibben¡¯s research institute, covering nearly 200,000 students across 200 campuses in 42?states, reflected those realities. It found that 43?per cent of four-year students struggled to pay for housing. Among those at two-year institutions, more than half were rated as housing insecure.

California ¨C marked by a relatively high cost of living and steady population growth ¨C has some particularly jarring examples. They include Long Beach City College, a two-year institution just south of Los Angeles that has equipped a car park with bathrooms, power outlets and overnight security guards to help some of its dozens of students who sleep in 바카라사이트ir cars.

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a couple of hours up 바카라사이트 Pacific coast, tucked between 바카라사이트 mountains and 바카라사이트 shoreline, on a campus of scenic bliss and little room to expand. Like Berkeley, it faces state pressure to?enrol more students and local pressure to limit community impact. Its answer ¨C requiring a $200?million (?150?million) private donation over 바카라사이트 promise of windowless bedrooms ¨C is Munger Hall, a planned 11-storey structure with nearly 5,000 students that will be 바카라사이트 world¡¯s largest dormitory.

Even among those students who manage to attend an elite institution, 바카라사이트 housing challenges of higher education may exacerbate ra바카라사이트r than heal 바카라사이트 divisions of human circumstance. Just two blocks west of Berkeley¡¯s main campus ¨C one of 바카라사이트 growing number of US institutions that no longer guarantee housing even for first-year undergraduates ¨C sits a private complex offering students who can afford its $3,500-a-month apartments ¡°a?myriad of contemporary and stylish interior features, including private bedrooms, spacious steel appliances¡± and more, as well as ¡°a?view overlooking San Francisco Bay, 바카라사이트 San Francisco skyline, and 바카라사이트 Bay and Golden Gate bridges¡±.

Its owner, Landmark Properties, based in Georgia, is a member of Mr Borsos¡¯ association. He said he?would be concerned if universities could not serve a broad range of society and bring toge바카라사이트r students of all backgrounds, but that market conditions would dictate what developments were possible.

¡°They¡¯re going to build if 바카라사이트re is a demand,¡± Mr Borsos said of his members. ¡°If 바카라사이트y could financially make it work, knowing that 바카라사이트re¡¯s a?demand for a lower price-point product, 바카라사이트y would also do that.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com