The UCOP Student Basic Needs Data Dashboard presents data on housing insecurity and houselessness, including disparities, from 2016 to 2021.
Housing Insecurity for both Graduate and Undergraduate Students in 2020 and 2021
5% of UC Berkeley students reported lacking "a safe, regular, and adequate nighttime place to stay at sleep".
4% of UC Berkeley students reported being at risk of not having "a safe, regular, and adequate nighttime place to stay and sleep" while on a UC housing waiting list.
8% of UC Berkeley students reported having slept overnight in a temporary accommodation or place not intended for human habitation due to not having a permanent home to return to.
Student Homelessness in 2016 and 2018: At Berkeley, 4% of undergraduate and 5% of graduate student respondents reported experiencing a form of homelessness, for a total of 9% of the student community.
Demographic Disparities in Houselessness at UC Berkeley
Racial Disparities, where the groups with the largest disparities between them were selected to highlight the range of differences.
Undergraduates: 4% of White respondents reported experiencing a form of homelessness, while 11% of African-American respondents and 7% of Hispanic/Latinx respondents reported experiencing a form of homelessness.
Graduates: 4% of White respondents reported experiencing a form of homelessness, while 8% of African American respondents, 21% of American Indian respondents, 8% of Hispanic/Latinx respondents reported experiencing a form of homelessness.
LGBTQ Disparities
Undergraduates: Compared to 4% of overall undergraduates who were unhoused at Berkeley, 8% of LGBTQ undergraduates were unhoused at Berkeley.
Graduates: The same 5% rate of homelessness is present for LGBTQ graduates as the general graduate student body, but there are intersectional disparities for African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and American Indian students who are LGBTQ.
Disparities Based on Life Circumstances
Former Foster Youth: Compared to 4% of overall undergraduates who were unhoused at Berkeley, 18% of former foster youth who were undergraduates were unhoused at Berkeley in 2018.
Parenting Students:
Compared to 4% of overall undergraduates who were unhoused at Berkeley, 10% of parenting students who were undergraduates were unhoused at Berkeley in 2018.
Students with Disabilities: Compared to 4% of overall undergraduates who were unhoused at Berkeley, 7% of students with disabilities, and 12% of students with cognitive disabilities, who were undergraduates were unhoused at Berkeley in 2018.
UC Berkeley Pulse Surveys
Pulse Survey #1
Pulse Survey #2
During September 2021, between the 4th and 6th weeks of the semester, the first Fall 2021 Pulse Survey was administered. The survey found a startling increase in the percentage of students who “lacked a safe, regular, and adequate nighttime place to stay and sleep” (i.e., experienced houselessness) since the beginning of the fall 2021 semester. On November 18th 2021, the second Pulse Survey was conducted and released for the UC Berkeley community, revealing that the staggering rates of the housing crisis had only worsened as the semester progressed.
Pulse Survey #1 - September, 2021
Compared to the 4% of UC Berkeley undergraduate students who reported being homeless (i.e., not having stable or reliable housing at any point in the school year) in 2018, 22.8% of undergraduate students now reported lacking “a safe, regular, and adequate nighttime place to stay and sleep”.
Compared to the 5% of UC Berkeley undergraduate students who reported being homeless in 2016 (i.e., not having stable or reliable housing at any point in the school year), 17.1% of graduate students now reported lacking “a safe, regular, and adequate nighttime place to stay and sleep”.
Pulse Survey #2 - November, 2021
26.5% of undergraduate students and 21.1% of graduate students now reported lacking “a safe, regular, and adequate nighttime place to stay and sleep”, for an average of 24.7% of UC Berkeley students or nearly 1 in every 4 members of the UC Berkeley student body.