No roof, no reform: California’s bold but bleak plan to let homeless students sleep in cars

California’s housing crisis has long been a political powder keg, but now it’s turning into an outright humanitarian emergency for the state’s college students. With one in four community college students experiencing homelessness in the past year, the question is no longer how bad the crisis is — but how shamefully long the state can ignore it. Amid rising costs, stalled reforms, and bureaucratic resistance, Assembly Member Corey Jackson has introduced a jarring yet brutally pragmatic solution: Let students sleep in their cars — safely and legally — on campus.
Jackson’s bill doesn’t romanticize the idea. It doesn’t claim to solve the systemic failures that led to this point. It simply asks: If we can’t yet give students beds, can we at least give them a sanctioned parking spot and a shred of dignity?

Stopgap or surrender? The bill that’s making lawmakers uneasy

Assembly Bill 302 doesn’t aim to fix California’s housing crisis overnight. Instead, it proposes an emergency measure: Mandating community colleges and California State University campuses to establish overnight parking programmes for homeless students.
The bill cleared its first committee on a party-line vote, reflecting a sharp divide even within the ruling Democratic supermajority. Critics argue that such a measure is no substitute for structural reform.
Opponents from within the academic systems — both CSU and community colleges — cite insufficient funding, security concerns, and potential liability.

The numbers behind the nightmare: A system in collapse

Last year alone, over 4,000 students in the CSU system were stuck on housing waitlists. Most community colleges don’t offer any housing at all. For those that do, the demand vastly exceeds the supply.
California’s rental prices sit more than 30% above the national average. Yet, the state collects no consistent data on how long students wait for housing assistance — a dangerous blind spot when those in need are sleeping in parking lots, on couches, or worse.
Meanwhile, the state’s legislative machinery moves at a glacial pace. Several broader housing bills are under consideration, but none offer immediate relief. For current students teetering on the edge, “wait and see” isn’t a policy. It’s a death sentence for dreams.

A working model: Long beach’s quiet rebellion against inaction

In 2021, Long Beach City College didn’t wait for Sacramento’s permission. When school officials discovered that over 70 students were sleeping in their vehicles, they launched a safe-parking pilot — the first of its kind in the region.
It cost $200,000 per year — modest by state budget standards — and offered restrooms, Wi-Fi, and a secure location with campus police nearby. No major incidents were reported. No wave of crime. No chaos. Just students, sleeping safely and waking up with a fighting chance.

Moral emergency, not political calculus

This isn’t just about housing. It’s about priorities. About whether the state that champions equity, inclusion, and education is willing to walk the talk when its students are sleeping on concrete.
California has a $291 billion budget. It funds clean energy, tech innovation, and national campaigns for social justice. Yet on the issue of student homelessness, the state is failing its most vulnerable — not because it can’t help, but because it won’t.
If California cannot muster the political will to allow its students to legally sleep in their cars on campus, what hope is there for deeper reform?

The verdict: Brutal pragmatism in a failing system

Jackson’s bill is not a solution — but it is a test. A test of conscience. Of compassion. And of whether political leaders can respond to a crisis with anything other than delay.
It is not the California Dream. It is a bandage over a bleeding wound. But for students staring down a night in an unfamiliar parking lot, it could be the only thing standing between safety and vulnerability.
Letting students sleep in cars is no one’s first choice. But until the system wakes up to its own failure, it may be the only humane one.