Vision
The Center for Equitable Higher Education (CEHE) is a trusted source of actionable research and catalyst of higher education systems that meet student basic needs and produce equitable outcomes.
Mission
As a research center, CEHE ensures that California higher education systems prioritize student basic needs and implement equitable and effective programs so that students thrive and graduate. CEHE works to:
- Amplify the voices of students and practitioners as the experts of their experience;
- Build evidence on student basic needs in partnership with students, faculty, practitioners and other leaders in the field; and
- Support practitioners, policy makers and other leaders as they work to meet student basic needs.
Spotlight On Our Work
Highlighting recent efforts that connect research, policy, and practice to advance actionable, student-centered solutions to basic needs insecurity in higher education.
More Research Projects & Collaborations
Explore additional research efforts and collaborations reflecting CEHE’s ongoing commitment to advancing college student basic needs.
Housing is now the largest expense for students in California’s public higher education system. A 2023 survey by the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) found that 53% of students across all California higher education systems experience housing insecurity. This includes just over a quarter of UC students, over half of CSU students, and nearly two-thirds of CCC students. Housing insecurity is especially prevalent among students with children, those over 24, and students who identify as Black, Latinx, or female. In response to this urgent need, the Governor and State Legislature launched the Higher Education Student Housing Grant (HESHG) program in 2021, using a budget surplus to fund affordable student housing across UC, CSU, and CCC campuses.
To further address the crisis, the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC), the California State Student Association (CSSA), and the University of California Student Association (UCSA) partnered to develop a student-centered affordable housing legislative agenda. The Center for Equitable Higher Education (CEHE) at CSU Long Beach collaborated with these organizations to explore the state’s housing efforts and highlight student leader priorities.
Click the below link to read the project brief, which outlines key findings and offers recommendations for centering students in California’s affordable housing strategies.
As the largest public four-year higher education system in the country that educates almost 460,000 students a year, the CSU is a focal point of basic needs program development and implementation. In 2016, the CSU Basic Need Initiative began to develop infrastructure for coordinated efforts across its 23 campuses. Between 2016 and 2020, all campuses developed a variety of models to support food and housing security; however, the details and broad effectiveness of these approaches remains unexamined. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 had a dramatic impact on the CSU campuses, students, and basic needs services. This study, funded by the ECMC Foundation, conducted in the midst of the emerging pandemic, examined data from four campuses, exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic affected students’ basic needs for housing and food supports, and how the interruption of campus basic needs services affected students’ well-being when campuses closed. The findings and recommendations informed basic need practice to support and strengthen basic needs infrastructure and services across public higher education in California.
Lessons Learned: Basic Need Programs During the Time of COVID-19 Findings Report
From 2015-2019, CEHE led the first and only comprehensive assessment of student basic needs in the CSU. In 2015, then California State University Chancellor Timothy White commissioned a three-phase study of CSU Student Basic Needs to shed light on understanding these social issues to explore how CSU students were experiencing food and housing insecurity, how campuses were meeting the needs, and offer recommendations to ensure student success. Phase 1 of the study explored the perspectives of staff, faculty, and administrators on the issues and provided preliminary student data. Phase 2 provided data from across all 23 campuses and explored experiences of students with homelessness and food insecurity. Phase 3 provided in-depth insight on the supports and barriers CSU students encountered to mitigate their basic need insecurities.
