Obviously, it’s hard to get through college if you have to worry about whether you will eat on any given day or where you will sleep at night. But that’s the situation that many students in California face. Surveys of the state’s community college students have found that about one in five have been homeless during the previous 12 months. That means they’re sleeping in a car, couch-surfing with friends, or living in an abandoned building or out on the street.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Recently proposed legislation in California would allow homeless students at all California Community Colleges to park their cars in campus parking lots overnight.

Assembly Bill 302, introduced by Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto), intends to give all homeless students attending a California Community College a place to sleep at night. Subsequently, if the bill is passed, California Community Colleges [CCC] with parking facilities would be required to allow students to park overnight.

In a reflection of just how dire the state’s housing crisis has become for its young residents, a Palo Alto legislator has proposed allowing community college students to sleep overnight in their cars in school parking lots.

Assembly Marc Berman calls it Safe Lot legislation, and it would require the state’s community colleges to give homeless students access to their parking lots and facilities—so long as that student is in good standing with the college.

A local lawmaker is looking to ease the burden of students struggling with the cost of living by proposing a law allowing those attending community colleges to sleep in their car overnight on campus.

Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, proposed Assembly Bill 302 last week with an eye on helping students who attend community college without access to stable housing.

Acknowledging the proposal arrives in advance of a larger, more substantial solution, Berman said he believes the initiative could assist many students pressed to make ends meet.