The number of students experiencing homelessness in California has increased by 10% since the 2018-19 school year, according to a new study from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.
During the 2024-25 school year, the number of K-12 public school students experiencing homelessness reached a peak of 298,254, researchers said in their report, “State of Crisis 2026: A Deepening Crisis of Students Experiencing Homelessness Across California
, released Wednesday.“These numbers are particularly concerning given the extensive evidence documenting the harmful effects of housing instability on children’s development, health and educational outcomes,” Grace Kim, a research analyst at the center and lead author of the report, said in a news
release.
The report, an update to the center's 2020 research, examined trends in homelessness across the Golden State from the 2017–18 through 2024–25 school years. It analyzed administrative data from the California Department of Education, including homeless student enrollment, suspensions, chronic absenteeism, academic achievement, graduation, and college-going indicators.
The report also delves into trends in student homelessness across regions and student groups, as well as how housing instability factors into academic outcomes, attendance, and school engagement.
Here's what the report reveals about student homelessness across California.
'A complex educational and developmental crisis'
In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, student homelessness in the state has not just persisted but has "intensified," according to the report.
The number of students experiencing homelessness fell from 269,269 in the 2018-19 school year to 224,191 in 2021-22. Similarly, the percentage of students experiencing homelessness decreased from 4.35% in 2018-19 to 3.77% in 2020-21. However, researchers noted that logistical challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to determine whether the decreases reported from 2019-20 through 2021-22 were accurate.
By the 2024-25 school year, the number of students experiencing homelessness had risen to 298,254, marking a 10% increase over the previous peak recorded in 2018-19, according to the report. Homeless students accounted for 5.14% of statewide enrollment, the highest rate recorded during the study period.
When the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools released its initial report on student homelessness in 2020, the communications team noted that the state's homeless student population in the 2018-19 school year was large enough to fill Dodger Stadium nearly five times, based on the venue's roughly 56,000-seat capacity.
Applying the same comparison to the 2024-25 school year, California's homeless student population could now fill more than five Dodger Stadiums, researchers said.
California is not alone in its upward trend of students experiencing homelessness; it mirrors national patterns, the report noted.
"In the 2022–23 school year, approximately 1.37 million students nationwide experienced homelessness, a sharp increase from the prior year and one of the highest totals in the past decade," researchers said.
Among student populations, Black and American Indian/Alaska Native students have consistently experienced the highest and fastest-growing rates of homelessness.
"In 2024–25, approximately 1 in 12 Black and American Indian/Alaska Native students in California experienced homelessness. The racial disparities are persistent and have widened over time," researchers said.
The report also found regional disparities. Students experiencing homelessness are most concentrated in Southern California, which had seven of the 10 school districts with the highest counts of students experiencing homelessness.
Meanwhile, Northern California and the Central Coast have most of the 10 counties with the highest rates of students experiencing homelessness.
"Central Coast elementary school districts account for half of the 10 school districts with the highest rates of students experiencing homelessness," researchers said.
As the report delves into the repercussions of student homelessness, it highlights that this population of students often "lag significantly behind their housed peers across all educational outcomes examined, including chronic absenteeism, suspension rates, academic proficiency, graduation and college-going rates." Most of those gaps remain persistent or widen over time.
“The report makes clear that student homelessness is not only a housing issue, but a complex educational and developmental crisis requiring sustained, coordinated public action," Kim said.
'Opportunity to turn the tide of this crisis'
To address the number of students experiencing homelessness, the report calls for targeting regional investments, allocating stronger protections for homeless students, dedicating funding for school districts, and expanding coordination between schools and social service agencies.
Additionally, the report urges policymakers to make efforts to address racial disparities and to offer additional academic and college-readiness support for students experiencing homelessness.
"By strategically focusing resources where they are most needed and strengthening the systems that support students, California has the opportunity to turn the tide of this crisis and provide all children and youth with a fair and equitable chance to succeed," according to the report.
Researchers noted that just before their report was published, California's governor and legislature included a one-time budget allocation of $116 million to support the identification and educational success of K–12 students experiencing homelessness.
“This new funding is the largest dedicated state funding to prioritize housing-insecure youth in the country. ... Our hope is that this new research can serve as a roadmap for prevention and systems change,” Joseph Bishop, executive director of the Center for the Transformation of Schools and an author of the report, said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Nearly 300,000 K-12 students are homeless in California, report finds
