Invisible but Present: The Experiences of Homeless Students at Community Colleges

• In Event: The Postsecondary Education of Homeless and Highly Mobile Youth

Abstract

Community colleges have an important place in the educational infrastructure of urban cities. Community colleges provide access to higher education to low-income students thereby bolstering cities’ economic and social development. Although many large urban community college districts have attempted to open their doors to diverse student populations, minority and first generation students, access and retention remain an uphill battle for these groups (Education Commission of the States, 2007; McCabe, 2000). While problems of access and retention persist for most underrepresented groups, higher education remains unresponsive to the needs of homeless youth.
Homelessness makes it difficult for youth to follow a traditional path to postsecondary education and then into the work place. In today’s global and knowledge- based economy a post-secondary education is a prerequisite for professional success. This makes access to higher education vital for homeless youth, but without the ability to enter postsecondary education through the community colleges, breaking the cycle of homelessness remains very difficult. This paper examines the contextually specific issues that homeless youth face in becoming incorporated into the community colleges and the ways in which the colleges can increase access for the homeless population.
The proposed paper has three objectives. The first objective is to inform higher education researchers about the ways in which community colleges might increase access for homeless youth. Second, this study examines the cultural biographies and educational experiences of homeless youth that are attending community college. The third objective is to engage scholars about future implications for research and practice related to homeless youth and higher education. To that end, this paper examines the relationship between community colleges and homeless youth. As no studies exist that discuss this topic, this paper will help open up new frontiers in higher education access research. Postsecondary education has always been a path to social mobility for students from low-income backgrounds, to that end, it is important to ensure that the path to higher education is open to those even in the most extreme forms of poverty. Continuing to extend the boundaries of community colleges to include homeless will assist in helping homeless youth make a smooth transition into adulthood.

Author

• Jarrett Gupton, University of Minnesota