Campus Housing Affordability Act

Key Points

• This bill would remove the current ban that prevents many college students from using federal Section 8 housing vouchers. By striking a key prohibition in existing law, it opens the door for eligible low-income students to get tenant-based rental assistance for campus housing.
• To qualify, a student must be enrolled in a college or university, live in campus housing maintained by the school, and already meet the normal income requirements for Section 8 housing assistance.
• The housing assistance a student receives would not count as income when applying for federal financial aid, calculating earnings in a co-op education program, determining eligibility for national service living allowances, or figuring out child support obligations.
• The bill gives the HUD Secretary broad authority to waive requirements in the Section 8 voucher program to make this work for students, allowing flexibility in how the assistance is applied to campus housing.
• This is a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Landsman with co-sponsors from both parties, signaling potential cross-aisle support for addressing student housing costs.