In the past year, nearly 8,000 CUNY students were homeless.

Officials said the figure is an estimate based on a student survey. Notably, student surveys have consistently indicated that thousands of students face housing instability.

CUNY Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero noted that 5% of the total student population reported facing housing insecurity in the past year. “Based off of that estimate, it would be about 7,871 students within one year have reported housing insecurity,” Alvero said. 

Another 2024 survey showed similar troubling findings. 20% of respondents said they were unable to pay or had underpaid mortgage or rent in the past year. 

Housing instability directly affects a student’s ability to succeed academically. As a public university system, CUNY lacks the tools to fix deeply structural problems like New York City’s housing crisis. The student homelessness crisis is, at its heart, reflective of a broader issue of the affordability crisis – one that is not offset even by low tuition.

However, while the main responsibility lies within policy decisions at both the city and state levels, homelessness greatly undermines access to education. This responsibility is especially pronounced because CUNY prides itself on economic mobility for its students. Thus, CUNY has the responsibility to provide support systems and ensure that students are aware of programs like CUNY CARES, campus food pantries and emergency grants.

While these programs already exist, awareness and scale are still lacking. Emergency aid and housing partnerships should be more readily accessible in terms of both speed and availability. This involves increased investment and coordination from not just CUNY but also government agencies, as well as funding from city and state legislators. 

With combined efforts, CUNY can help support its vulnerable students, while the structural issue of an affordability crisis can simultaneously be addressed at the governmental level.