The University of Cincinnati Housing Crisis

By Maeve Hamlet 

Amid a fierce housing market, inflation, and low wages- college students are combating what some people refer to as a hidden epidemic; homelessness. Finding ‘affordable housing’ is becoming increasingly difficult for many people in Cincinnati, including college students. Affordable housing is defined as housing that costs no more than one-third of a person's income, including rent and utilities. In our current economy, this is simply not realistic for many low-income students. Leaving them with few options for affordable and safe housing. For some students, that has resulted in homelessness

“It’s a much more pervasive problem than people think it is,” says Katelyn Lusher, a previous University of Cincinnati student and volunteer writer for Streetvibes, a local newspaper that focuses on homelessness. “These students are living in their car, they are not able to receive government benefits because they don’t have any family so they can't get food, or they are couch surfing or living with their friends.” Says Lusher. The list doesn’t stop there; it's also the strenuous search for housing in their price range, all while the price of rent continues to get higher. 

For the neighborhoods around UC’s campus, rent prices are up drastically. A report from Realtor.com stated that average rent costs in Cincinnati have increased by 11.9% since May 2021.

A full-time college student's income typically comes from working a part-time service industry job to make ends meet. This means they are most likely relying on Ohio’s minimum wage of $8.80 per hour to survive. If a student's annual income meets the U.S. poverty level of $12,880, they are left with $321 to be used towards housing costs each month if they are only using one-third of their income towards rent.

In the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Cincinnati’s campus such as Clifton, CUF, The Heights, and Corryville, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment is approximately $1,212 a month, according to data collected from Rentcafé.com. The $321 housing budget a student would have if they were making around $12,880 a year barely makes a dent into the average cost of rent in these neighborhoods. In 2016, the National Postsecondary Student Aid Organization conducted a study revealing that approximately 90.7% of full-time college students are making below the U.S. poverty level.

Multiple factors are contributing to the rise in rental costs. The main reason is supply and demand.

As of 2021, The University of Cincinnati is celebrating its ninth consecutive year of record-breaking enrollment. High enrollment for the university can be a double-edged sword. Systemically, these patterns will result in an even higher demand for affordable housing.

In many cases, students who are dealing with housing instability are also on the verge of being put on academic probation who were in the past, thriving students. “Housing instability automatically causes academic instability,” says Lisa Holstrom, the senior assistant dean for the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences at UC.

This all plays into a domino effect. Holstrom says, “When a student comes into my office that has been struggling, I ask them what's going on- I can't tell you how many times the students say, ‘I’m homeless’. What I discovered is these students are just trying to survive, you may never know, it could be the student sitting right next to you in class.” Holstrom explains that these students, “Might be living in their car with little access to Wi-Fi. So, unless they go to the library, assignments are often late, and they run into a lot of trouble submitting work on time.”

To exacerbate the problem, students who can find a good deal on housing often discover that the conditions of the apartment aren't up to code. “There are a lot of illegal practices going on. Students are more vulnerable, they can easily be taken advantage of,” says Lusher. This can often result in unsafe living conditions for students who are living in lower-income affordable housing.

 Holstrom explains that she is currently working with students facing homelessness because their off-campus apartment is severely infected with mold, and their landlord has refused to abate it.

Holstrom also says that her daughter lived in an apartment off-campus when she went to UC and the ceiling caved in. She lived with dust, insulation and what could have been asbestos in the middle of her living room. “It took two weeks before the landlord did a darn thing.” Holstrom exclaims. 

The university has yet to acknowledge the conditions of the apartments they expect their students to live in.