US homeless student population reaches 1.5m, the highest in a decade

Abstract

The number of public school students experiencing homelessness in the US has increased 15% in the past three years, reaching its highest number in more than a decade.

More than 1.5 million students reported experiencing homelessness during the 2017-18 school year, according to a study by the National Center for Homeless Education, with California at the forefront with 263,000 students.

The 2017-18 number was the highest number that the NCHE has reported since it began tracking this data in 2004, George Hancock, the center director, told the Guardian. “We’re seeing it throughout the country,” he said.

However, the number of students living in unsheltered situations, such as on the streets, spiked by 137% to more than 102,000 in the past three years.