Rising Costs, Debt and Inability to Afford Housing and Food
The newly built Canyon Flats on Virginia Street is offering a pet spa, a yoga and cross-fit center and an art gallery. Those are nice amenities but for non affluent students are these really needed? A fall semester there for students will be in excess of $3,300, much like Uncommon, which is prioritized for incoming freshmen, still cheaper than Peavine Hall, Juniper Hall or Sierra Hall, where singles top $4,000 for the fall. There’s even higher priced singles at the Great Basin Hall or Nevada Living Learning Community which are each close to $5,000. That’s not counting equally pricey meal plans as most of these options offer very little in terms of being allowed to cook for yourself, sometimes banning cooking altogether in rooms.
Where are the cheaper more convenient options though, as nearby motels and some of the older homes which were split into different rooms, are razed?
Apartments nearby now go for over $1,250 per month for a one bedroom and some artificial turf in front at 145 Lofts for example. For students trying to get ahead with a degree but not drown themselves financially, these logistical challenges are acute amid this housing unaffordability crisis.
In total in the United States, there is currently an estimated $1.4 trillion in federal student loan debt, of which most is federal. Discussions are ongoing in Washington in terms of how far the administration and Congress are willing to go in terms of student loan forgiveness. Meanwhile, the system that led to these frightening numbers remains out of control.
This semester, enrollment seems to be down again at UNR, with more and more students seemingly unwilling to leave home for their college experience, meaning fewer Vegas and California transplants wearing the Wolf Pack blue and grey.
For some local students, still trying to get their degree here, housing and living costs exceed the cost of tuition. Food insecurity affects at least one in five students. There’s also a hidden population, estimated to be at least 10 percent of the student body in most western cities, which lacks stable housing.
One interesting, award winning program to address this is the Tacoma Community College Housing Assistance Program. According to its website, it’s “a partnership with the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) and other community organizations that allows homeless and near-homeless students to access housing vouchers and low-cost apartments subsidized by THA.”
Wouldn’t this type of well funded program be a welcome collaboration here in Reno between UNR and the Reno Housing Authority?
Specific Shelter Options for Students and More Roving Case Workers
A UCSC student organization (Instagram feed above) is currently starting a donation funded shelter for college students experiencing homelessness in the Santa Cruz area. It’s called Slug Shelter. Could a group at UNR do that? Discrete, population specific shelters seem to be the way to go rather than the one size fits all mega shelter northern Nevada has adopted, despite warnings from many.
Slug Shelter’s website reads: “Slug Shelter is a student-led organization at UCSC that is committed to providing a temporary living space for college students experiencing homelessness in the Santa Cruz area. Our goal is to create a safe, reliable space that meets the physical and emotional needs of these students, enabling them to devote more time to their studies and other professional pursuits. With this program, we hope to mitigate the financial struggles endured by students who are most affected by the high cost of living in Santa Cruz. In addition, we offer student volunteers a valuable, hands-on experience in building a strong community.”
In Ohio, there’s an initiative to hire social case workers to roam neighborhoods where students live to do outreach and connect them with available resources and also try to pinpoint problems before they worsen. These ideas seem to offer some respite and safety valves, while hopefully more structural solutions are being worked on going forward.