City Colleges Adds Emergency Fund and Housing Coordinator to
Comprehensive Set of Student Supports
According to a report released today by the Hope Center for
College, Community, and Justice at Temple University’s
College of Education, 64% of the City Colleges of Chicago students surveyed
expressed food or housing insecurity. City Colleges of Chicago’s Chancellor
Juan Salgado unveiled the results as he introduced additional measures to
address some of the challenges the city’s community college students face
outside of the classroom, including an emergency fund and a dedicated housing
coordinator.
The national survey found that 44
percent of the City Colleges students who responded to the survey were food
insecure in the prior 30 days, 54 percent were housing insecure in the previous
year, and 15 percent of respondents were homeless in the previous year.
More than 3,000 students from the
seven colleges participated in the survey, or six percent of the 47,000
students enrolled in the Fall 2018 semester.
The #RealCollege Survey was
created and administered by the Hope Center, led by Dr. Sara
Goldrick-Rab—the nation’s leading expert on basic
needs insecurity among college students—and yielded results similar to the
center’s findings in other cities,
states, and nationally.
“This survey confirms
what we have observed – that many of our students are managing significant
responsibilities and bravely facing food and housing challenges while they work
hard to complete college,” said Chancellor Salgado. “We continue to expand our support services and
work in close partnership with community resources to ensure our students can focus
on their classwork, rather than meeting their basic needs.”
“Our partners at the City Colleges are
working proactively to address food and housing insecurity among their
students,” said Dr. Goldrick-Rab, Founding Director of the Hope Center and
Professor of Higher Education Policy and Sociology at Temple University. “They
deserve far more support from the city and the state of Illinois.”
City Colleges has launched
an emergency fund for unforeseen, one-time crises, which is now available to
students on a first-come, first-served basis. The fund is administered by the
non-profit All Chicago and made possible by an anonymous donor. It seeks to aid students who face unexpected
roadblocks that would otherwise keep them from completing their degree by
providing students up to $750 per semester. City Colleges is also adding a new
housing coordinator, made possible by a $70,000 grant from Chicago Community
Trust, who will help connect students to housing resources within sister
agencies and community-based organizations.
These newest
initiatives are in addition to the resources City Colleges already offers,
including Wellness Centers offering social/emotional support, Veterans Services
Centers, Disability Access Centers, permanent food pantries in partnership with
the Greater Chicago Food Depository at five colleges with the additional two
opening this fall; and scholarships for unique populations, such as eligible
CPS students and Chicago Housing Authority residents.
According to The Hope Center’s
report, rates of basic needs insecurity at
City Colleges are higher for marginalized students, including African
Americans, students identifying as LGBTQ, and students who are independent from
their parents or guardians for financial aid purposes. Students who have served
in the military, former foster youth, and students who were formally convicted
of a crime are all at greater risk of basic needs insecurity.
Academically, while
most students reported receiving A’s and B’s, students who experience food
insecurity or homelessness reported grades of C or below at slightly higher
rates than students who did not have these experiences.
Working during college is not associated with a lower risk of
basic needs insecurity, and neither is receiving the federal Pell Grant; in
fact, receiving the Pell Grant is associated with higher rates of basic needs
insecurity. The CCC students experiencing basic needs insecurity are
overwhelmingly part of the labor force. For example, the vast majority of
students who experienced food insecurity were employed or looking for work.
Similarly, the majority of students who experienced housing insecurity or
homelessness were employed or looking for work. Also, among working students,
those who experienced basic needs insecurity worked more hours than other
students.
The federal government recognized the
seriousness of unaddressed basic needs insecurity when the U.S. Government
Accountability Office released a report on college food insecurity. Both the
GAO report and the new #RealCollege report found that many students eligible
for public assistance are not receiving support from those programs. The GAO
estimates that 57% of students at risk of food insecurity and eligible for SNAP
did not collect those benefits. The Hope Center finds that only one in three
food insecure students at CCC schools receive SNAP. Likewise, only 9% of
students who experienced homelessness in the past year receive housing
assistance.
The #RealCollege
survey, which specifically evaluates access to affordable food and housing,
began in 2015 under the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, and is supported by the Lumina
Foundation.
Media contact:
Danny Sternfield, dsternfield@ccc.edu, 847.533.2744