Student housing, according to Lake Tahoe Community College President Jeff DeFranco, has often been treated as an auxiliary service in higher education, one that's important but separate from the academic mission itself. This assumption, he believes, is no longer indicative of the reality students face today.
Across the United States, a surge in housing costs is increasingly determining whether students can enroll in college or remain until graduation. Within communities shaped by short-term rentals and limited housing inventory, DeFranco suggests that the issue has intensified rapidly.
"Housing is one of the largest tools we have to support student completion," DeFranco explains. "It's not just about housing. It's about helping students get into school and get their degrees." Today, more than 1.5 million college students in America experience homelessness, with 59% of students considering dropping out due to housing insecurity.
DeFranco points to Lake Tahoe's broader housing trends and how they directly impact educational outcomes. Over the past decade, he notes that the region has experienced dramatic changes driven by short-term vacation rental platforms, alongside an influx of remote workers relocating during and after the pandemic. Homes that once housed long-term residents might become vacation rentals or second properties, consequently shrinking the available housing supply for working families and students.
At the same time, DeFranco highlights the national decline in enrollment numbers.
According to him, conversations with students revealed a jarring pattern of instability. One student, DeFranco recalls, moved four times during a single academic year after successive housing arrangements collapsed due to property sales and conversion into short-term rentals.
He explains, "Think about having to move, not once, but multiple times during your school year. Our students were either unable to come up with the housing costs, or they had to work so much to cover housing that they couldn't make enough time for their coursework."
According to DeFranco, those pressures often remain discrete until students leave altogether. He notes that many students never formally explain why they stop attending classes. "Most students, they just don't show up the next term. What we hear most commonly is, 'I just need to work more,'" he says. Exit surveys conducted by the college, he adds, have found that finances and housing insecurity tend to be the leading causes.
Housing instability tends to disrupt education in a far more comprehensive manner. When students face constant uncertainty, they often increase work hours, reduce course loads, struggle with concentration, or abandon academic plans entirely. Frequent moves can further interrupt study routines, transportation access, and mental stability. The cumulative effect, DeFranco notes, creates a cycle that weakens persistence before the student officially drops out.
Enrollment trends suggest the problem may become even more urgent in the coming decade. Studies show that the number of US high school graduates is expected to peak in 2025 before steadily declining through 2041. California alone is projected to see nearly a 29 percent decline.
With colleges already navigating a shrinking student population, housing affordability issues could further exacerbate enrollment, driving continued declines. "If colleges don't provide access to affordable housing, they're not going to be able to attract students to go to school," DeFranco says. "Students aren't going to be able to persist and complete. That's bad for colleges and universities, but more importantly, it's really just bad for society."
What makes DeFranco's insight more compelling is his vantage point within community colleges, which are a pivotal space in this ongoing conversation. Unlike many four-year institutions, he highlights that community colleges are deeply embedded within local economies and frequently serve students facing the greatest financial constraints. Many community colleges, he adds, often provide direct employment pathways through career and technical education programs.
At Lake Tahoe Community College, those pathways include emergency medical training, forestry education, and a fire academy, which are directly tied to regional workforce needs.
"We champion an open-access mission, and because of that, we accept every student who applies to the college. The students that we serve are already dealing with financial challenges," DeFranco explains. Providing affordable housing, he argues, can create the stability the students need to complete those programs and move into sustainable careers. In that sense, he frames housing as an engine for socioeconomic mobility.
The college recently opened a student housing facility after nearly a decade of planning and two years of construction. Designed to prioritize affordability and quality, the residence includes gathering spaces, study corridors, a communal kitchen, laundry facilities, secure storage, and views overlooking the surrounding Tahoe landscape, with the goal of fostering comfort and community.
"Affordable housing should be good value, but it also should be good quality," he says. "Even though it's affordable, I want our students to still have a high-quality experience."
Since accommodating students within the housing facility, DeFranco found that students living on campus persist from one academic term to the next at significantly higher rates than comparable peers navigating the private housing market independently.
Even so, DeFranco acknowledges that many educational leaders remain hesitant to enter the housing debate. In his view, concerns about financial risk and the 24-hour responsibilities tied to housing management often discourage institutions from taking action.
"People were afraid to get into the business of housing," he says. "Helping folks see this as part of our mission was the first step."
With affordability pressures continuing to pervade higher education nationwide, DeFranco posits that higher education can't afford to treat housing as someone else's responsibility. Educational access, workforce readiness, and community stability, he remarks, can only be cultivated when students have a secure place to call home.
