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Homeless college students: A bigger problem than you may think

Posted at 6:00 AM, Feb 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-09 07:16:16-05
We know the rising tuition costs and student debt are major hurdles for students seeking higher education, but what about the less well-known cost of college, like food and housing?
 
Instead of worrying about grades, internships and finding a job after graduation, a new study from Cal State University says there are hundreds of students worried about where they'll sleep tonight.
 
Here in a Cuyahoga County nearly 130 young adults are homeless but many of them have still found away to put themselves through college.
 
In the study, researchers found one in 10 of their students don't know where they'll sleep every night, and nearly one in four don't know where they'll get their next meal.
 
Jacqueline Bradshaw, is student at TRI-C, who found herself in that same boat and just recently found housing.
 
"I think I've just grown a lot, I think just the whole experience, even though it wasn't long, it really did show to me that I have a lot of strain, I didn't think that I was that strong until I went through it and look back and was like 'oh wow,'" she said.
 
She's been apart of the YWCA's 100-day challenge through their "A Place for Me" program that just wrapped up in December 2016. 
 
The program was able to get housing for 105 homeless young adults here in Cuyahoga County within 100 days. Many of them are now enrolled in higher education.