Should California Let Students Live In Their Cars? This State Lawmaker Thinks So.

SACRAMENTO, California — A progressive Democratic lawmaker is seeking a simple but jarring remedy of last resort for California's college students navigating the state's housing crisis: Let them sleep in their cars.

While roughly half a dozen state legislative proposals this year seek to fund student or faculty housing or loosen building regulations, the benefits would come far too late for current students struggling to stay afloat. With one in four California community college students experiencing homelessness in the past year, Democrats — who have a supermajority in the statehouse — face increasing pressure to deliver on affordability issues.

Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Southern California Democrat who has a doctorate in social work, said lawmakers can build long-term solutions while offering an immediate stopgap for a “worst case scenario.” His proposal, which cleared its first committee last month, would require community colleges and the California State University system to plan for an overnight parking program for students.

Without a sanctioned, on-campus parking program, students are left with no other option but to sleep in their cars somewhere off-campus where they might not be welcome, according to Jackson.

Supporters make clear the measure is not intended to be a permanent solution to the affordability crisis, but with rent in California more than 30 percent higher than the national average, the situation is dire.

“This just deals with the harsh realities that we find ourselves in,” Jackson said during a recent hearing.

Both the CSU and community college systems are opposed to Jackson’s effort, citing a lack of funding and a mandate that doesn’t address long-term housing solutions. Jackson, in an interview, argued the colleges aren’t taking a “very moral position.” He said they’ve remained opposed even after he has offered to waive liability and delay implementation until funding is available.

“It’s just a difference of opinion,” Jackson said. “I believe that we are in a housing crisis. We are in a homelessness crisis, and so every single agency needs to do their part to help with the issue.”

Last year, 4,000 students in the California State University system were on a housing waitlist. Most community college districts don’t offer student housing, and there is often a waitlist for those that do.

The state doesn’t collect data on how long it takes for a student to get help after requesting housing assistance, a period when students tend to be the most vulnerable.

“We're trying to ensure that there is a way for our students to feel safe in these difficult moments,” said Ivan Hernandez, president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, which is supporting the bill.

A successful pilot

Long Beach Community College, which has nearly 40,000 students, doesn’t yet offer student housing. But when campus officials discovered in 2021 that more than 70 students were sleeping in their cars, they quickly got to work on a safe-parking pilot program that is believed to be the first in the region.

Mike Muñoz, the college’s superintendent-president, said the school is closing in on a contract to provide 422 campus housing beds by 2028 — but that immediate needs can’t wait. Muñoz said he experienced housing insecurity as a single father going through college and at times resorted to sleeping in his car.

“I know what that feels like,” Muñoz said. “For us it was looking at the data in that moment and saying, ‘Hey, we know 70 students with real names and ID numbers that are sleeping in their cars.’”

The college spent $200,000 per year to get the program running, starting a pilot at its trade-tech site before moving to a parking structure on the main campus with a direct line-of-sight from campus police headquarters. Students in the program have access to restrooms, showers and wireless internet. Of the 34 students who used the program during the 2023-24 school year, 22 remained through last fall, half were eligible for financial aid and all but four were older than 25.

Muñoz said there were initial security concerns, and some campus officials had a “sky is falling” attitude when he first broached the idea, convinced that “all these bad things are going to happen if you open up structures and let students sleep.”

“None of those things happened,” he said.

At first, the school had a separate security detail oversee the program, but it now relies on existing campus police after officials realized they “weren't having incidents or concerns that rose to the level where we need on-site security,” Muñoz said. Muñoz was unsure of how Long Beach’s program would work statewide, noting that the ability to “secure a space for students” is different for each campus.

Tough road ahead

The measure cleared the Assembly Higher Education committee, its first hurdle, on a party-line vote. But similar bills in recent years have failed to reach Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk — including a narrower proposal from Jackson last year that was blocked by the Senate Appropriations Committee after an estimate that it would cost in the tens of millions of dollars. Another Democratic proposal, which stalled in 2019, would have required community colleges to allow students to sleep in campus parking lots.

And this bill is facing skepticism even from members of Jackson’s party. Democrats during the March committee hearing questioned the feasibility of the bill and whether students would have to pay for the program. Assemblymember Darshana Patel, a San Diego Democrat, told Jackson that she had privacy concerns about the “constant surveillance” that would be needed to ensure the safety of students sleeping in their cars.

Nune Garipian, policy and advocacy manager with the Community College League of California, told lawmakers the colleges already provide numerous temporary housing services such as access to the state’s rapid rehousing programs, hotel vouchers, rental subsidies and partnerships with local nonprofits “that have a long, trusted history with the community and are already doing this really great work.” Garipian said the bill could unintentionally divert funds away from those existing programs.

“Establishing an overnight student parking program would require significant financial and administrative resources to ensure that students have a safe, clean and secure place to sleep at night,” Garipian said. “Our colleges unfortunately just do not have these resources available.”

Hernandez, president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, said he’s traveled up and down the state and talked to many students who are couch-surfing, in other short-term housing arrangements or sleeping in their cars. He said he understands concerns about liability, safety and funding — but notes that the proposal is not “creating the problem” of student housing insecurity.

“It’s just basically addressing the problem that is currently happening,” Hernandez said.