By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource
The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic has triggered financial hardship for many California community college students to cover the costs of housing, food and other living expenses.
On Tuesday, the community college system announced its largest donation ever that will help many of those students financially. The Jay Pritzker Foundation made a 20-year, $100 million pledge to provide scholarships to California’s community college students facing unexpected financial hardships.
The foundation is named after the founder of Hyatt Hotels and is focused on equity.
“This unparalleled level of support for our students will be life-changing,” said Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor of the 116 community college system. “We are grateful to the Jay Pritzker Foundation for their generosity and recognition of the California Community Colleges as a vehicle for transformative change.”
In the first year of the 20-year pledge, 34 community colleges in the Inland Empire, the Central Valley and the Far North regions with the lowest percentage of adults who have college degrees will receive $150,000 each. In the Far North region, which is home to six community colleges and includes Humboldt, Siskiyou and Shasta counties, only 10% of people have an associate’s degree and 25% have a bachelor’s degree, according to a July 2020 report from California Competes, a nonprofit focused on improving graduation outcomes.
Those 34 colleges can use the money to provide students with emergency financial aid because of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact. In future years, the colleges can use a combination of scholarships and emergency financial aid to give students up to $18,500 per student per year to cover a wide range of expenses such as textbooks, transportation, housing, childcare and food.
“Many community college students have difficulty affording basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and childcare,” said Dan Pritzker, president of the Jay Pritzker Foundation and a California resident. “Community Colleges provide equal opportunity to pursue high-quality education without incurring crushing debt. We believe education is the key to preserving our democracy and hope others will join in supporting community colleges across the country.”
Although California’s colleges have some of the lowest tuition in the country, non-tuition costs such as rent, transportation and other living expenses can create financial barriers that prevent students from graduating or transferring to a university.
A survey of nearly 50,000 community college students between May and June found 57% reported they faced homelessness, food or housing insecurity. The situation was worse among students of color, with 71% of Native Americans, 65% of Black, 63% of Latinx and 61% of Asian students reporting they faced at least one basic needs insecurity since the start of the pandemic.
And 53% of the students surveyed reported their income had decreased, with 41% saying they had experienced an employment change because of the coronavirus.
New research released Tuesday at UCLA found one in five California community college students is experiencing homelessness.
Keetha Milles, president of the Foundation of California Community Colleges, said the donation would keep students enrolled by addressing the immediate financial needs that could prevent them from delaying their academic goals.
Early enrollment numbers from the community colleges also show that students have been hit hard by the pandemic. Last month, Oakley said systemwide they have seen a 5% to 7% decrease in enrollment. Information provided to EdSource from some colleges indicates a wide range of declines, from 3.8% to 20%.
