Estudiantes de bajos ingresos en Oregon luchan por pagar una educación universitaria klcc.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from klcc.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Credit Melorie Begay / KLCC News
Attending higher education can be exciting. Not only is it an opportunity to learn, it’s a chance to make new friends and engage in new experiences. But navigating college can be even more challenging if students’ basic needs aren’t met.
63% of surveyed Oregon community college students experienced some kind of basic needs insecurities in 2019. That number, which doesn’t include students at universities, has most likely increased during the pandemic and after last year’s devastating wildfires.
But in order to even access higher education, students must first graduate high school or receive their GED. A task that can be daunting for any student, but particularly so for students experiencing homelessness. According to Voices of Youth Count, not completing high school is the single greatest risk factor associated with experiencing unaccompanied homelessness as a young person.
KLCC s Elizabeth Gabriel reports on food insecurity among college students.
Daniel Aguirre, who goes by Dray, is a second year student at Central Oregon Community College in Bend. The first-generation college student wants to become a nurse. But his lack of stable housing and food can make it difficult for him to concentrate on school.
“There s actually a lot of people who are homeless out here,” said Aguirre. “There s a lot of students that are struggling, [and] a lot of people don t really know that, which is frustrating.”
He usually stays in a trailer located on his friends property and goes to a gym in order to take a shower. Since the trailer was vandalized a few years ago, a lot of the equipment doesn t work. Aguirre often experiences food insecurity because the broken propane system prevents him from cooking.
La crisis de viviendas asequibles de Oregón afecta a los estudiantes universitarios klcc.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from klcc.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Amethyst has been on her own since her mother kicked her out of her house at the age of 15. We’re not using her last name to protect her privacy. After graduating high school in 2019, she enrolled in Lane Community College in Eugene to study paramedicine.
Throughout high school and during part of her time in college she experienced housing and food insecurity.
“One, when you re having to pay for college by yourself, you re gonna lose a lot of money,” said Amethyst. “And then you have to pay for your housing, and then you have to pay for your food and you re not able to make a livable wage, because you know, you re still trying to pursue your education. Like it seems impossible.”