"Rural homeless people, especially students, are largely invisible, and estimates of their numbers vary," Fields and Surma report. "For example, [the Department of Housing and Urban Development] estimated in 2019 there were about 100,000 homeless people living in rural America. But that same year, the nonprofit Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness reported the number of homeless students alone was more than 162,000." The rural homeless are less visible (and less countable) because they often couch-surf and are less likely to stay at shelters.
Since universities can't keep an eye on homeless students as easily, such students may not receive meals, basic health care or other critical services, Fields and Surma report.
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