Thousands of California college students homeless and go hungry - study

Nearly 50 000 students attending the largest public university in the United States are homeless and many more go hungry, according to a new study made public this week.

The study, commissioned by California State University (CSU), which has 23 campuses across the western state and some 460 000 students, shows that 8.7 to 12% of students at the school are homeless while 21 to 24% lack a consistent food source.

Timothy White, chancellor of the Cal State system, said the study was commissioned in February of last year in order to quantify evidence on the issue.

Staff, faculty and administrators were questioned along with students.