By Sianna Santos, age 11
Did you know that there are many homeless students in the United States? According to The New York Times, about 1.3 million students nationwide identify as homeless.
Student homelessness has increased a lot in New York City in recent years, reports Advocates for Children of New York. More than 154,000 students in New York City were homeless during the 2024-2025 school year.
Of these, about 53% of these students were temporarily living in someone else’s house, 42% lived in shelters, and 5% lived in hotels or motels.
Within the five boroughs, 17.4% of homeless students during the 2024-2025 school year in New York City lived in the Bronx, followed by Manhattan with 16.6%.
The issue of homeless students “is so profoundly obscene that I don’t know how the No. 1 priority of any administration isn’t ensuring that everyone in the city has a place to live,” Dave Giffen, the executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, told The New York Times.
More people should be aware of the consequences and the harms for students who might be in a situation of homelessness.
Students who are homeless may be absent more often if they are staying in shelters far from the school they attend, making them harder to get to and making safety a challenge. This places them at greater risk of having to drop out of school.
Also, homeless students often have to change schools midyear if the school is far from a shelter placement or if the family does get permanent housing, as they don’t always get to choose where it is. This can be very disruptive to students’ education because every time a student changes schools, it can set them back by six months academically, shows research in The New York Times.
In New York City, student homelessness has consequences for attendance. According to the group Advocates for Children of New York, more than half of homeless students missed at least one out of every 10 days in the 2024-2025 school year. As a result, only 22% of the homeless students in New York score passing grades on their proficiency exams from grades 3-8.
The city can help students experiencing homelessness by forming more shelters and affordable housing closer to the schools these students usually attend. They can also focus on supporting their education to give them a better chance to pass their classes.
More cities and states should fund free preschool and meal programs, improve the yellow bus system, and hire high-level employees who focus on students experiencing homelessness.
This topic is important to know about so we can help spread more information and come up with solutions to help these students and make sure everyone has an affordable place to live.
