Throughout my four years at Indiana University – Bloomington, I was surprised at the noticeable presence of chronically unhoused individuals in the surrounding community. These empirical observations motivated me to look into why this would occur in a small semi-rural town in Southern Indiana.
What I found shocked me: nothing. I saw no research on homelessness in small towns, specifically college towns. What I did find, however, was that across the board, the single most significant indicator of homelessness in all communities across the United States was a lack of affordable housing. I knew my school to be a large contributor to housing costs in the area, which led me to wonder how universities across the Midwest in similar towns impacted the nearby unhoused. I landed on the research question: What role does the presence of large, public universities play in relieving and exacerbating homelessness in their surrounding municipalities? To investigate this relationship, I interviewed five directors of homeless shelters throughout the Midwest United States in college towns. Below are the five municipalities included in this study, the schools associated, and relevant statistics on homelessness.
| University | City, State (County) | City Population (County Population) 2023 | Unhoused Person / 1,000 County Residents |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing, Michigan (Ingham) | 48, 528 (284,637) | 1.67 |
| Iowa State University | Ames, Iowa (Story) | 65,582 (98,566) | 1.21 |
| Kansas State University | Manhattan, Kansas (Riley) | 53,682 (71,402) | 1.08 |
| Indiana University – Bloomington | Bloomington, Indiana (Monroe) | 79,375 (139,342) | 0.54 |
| Penn State University | State College Borough, Pennsylvania (Centre) | 40,687 (157,795) | 0.48 |
From these five interviews, I discovered that universities both help and hurt the nearby unhoused populations. Several trends were isolated across the interviews, which indicate the most relevant implications.
First, universities aid the unhoused by providing shelters with volunteer support and monetary donations. A director in East Lansing claimed that Michigan State University-affiliated individuals provide her shelter with up to 75% of their volunteer base. There was a common sentiment across all these interviews that the directors were skeptical if their organization would even be open without university-related individuals aiding in their missions. Another significant help to these shelters was that students served in key roles in the shelters. Many students work paid positions, helping three of five shelters function.
On the other hand, these directors spoke about how universities negatively impact the unhoused. Across the board, the most discussed relationship was how the presence of the university raised the cost of rental properties in all five towns. The story was told repeatedly, each time taking a similar tone. These public universities have massive student populations, most of which need off-campus housing. They are often backed by out-of-state parents with deep pockets. These wealthy parents can co-sign for their children, making it a risk-free investment for landlords. Backed by their parents, students pay, on average, $700 monthly per room. Now, imagine you are a low-income family in one of these college towns, unable to afford your own property. This per-room approach to rental properties makes it impossible for you even to hope to afford a property with multiple rooms for your family.
In addition, three of the directors spoke to the university Police forces being undertrained, creating a dangerous environment for the unhoused on public property they have a right to be on. The last main exacerbating factor mentioned was that the towns are university-oriented instead of community-oriented. This issue took the form of centralized transportation centered around the University or the city prioritizing the building of alum housing in luxury condominiums, instead of low-income housing.
In the end, by weighing how gravely and to what extent the directors spoke about the University’s pros and cons on the unhoused, I concluded that these public universities harm the unhoused more than they help them. That said, I propose three key steps these universities and surrounding communities can take to help alleviate this concern.
They can (1) Create proactive measures to lower rental costs; (2) Conduct mutually beneficial research with community resources; (3) Introduce policies that promote low-income housing.
The first suggestion is simple: if universities plan to expand their student body in doing so increasing the tuition they receive from students, they need to develop housing options to accommodate these students. Second, it is important to note that not a single director knew of homelessness research being conducted by their nearby university. This lack of research is a missed opportunity that universities can quickly fix, which will help contribute to understanding homelessness in the United States. Lastly, a good example of a policy that could help promote low-income housing is occurring in State College, Pennsylvania, where every new housing development must allocate some of its funding towards the construction of low-income housing. Simple policies like this help mitigate these towns’ lack of affordable housing.
It is vital that those in privileged circles, such as higher education, advocate and think about those who are voiceless but may be impacted nonetheless.
Forest Wallace is a senior at the O’Neill School dual majoring in Nonprofit Management & Leadership and Law & Public Policy. He is originally from South Bend, Indiana and plans to pursue a JD beginning in the fall after graduating from Indiana University – Bloomington.
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