Community college students have difficulty fulfilling their basic needs.

Roughly half of students at 70 community colleges across the country face housing challenges, like obstacles paying rent or utilities regularly or needing to move frequently, a survey published Wednesday found. About two-in-three students have difficulty regularly accessing healthy food, according to the survey, published by the Wisconsin Hope Lab, a research organization focused on college affordability and the Association of Community College Trustees. And roughly 14% of students are homeless, the study found.

“Despite stereotypes that say college students will choose to party or buy clothes over necessities,” the survey shows that students are choosing to pay for school, even in cases where they can’t afford to have a roof over their heads, said Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education at Temple University and one of the authors of the study. (The survey queried more than 33,000 community college students at 70 schools in 24 states.)

The findings come as policy makers and higher education leaders are growing increasingly aware of the challenges college students face simply surviving while in school. At a time when college costs continue to grow faster than incomes, aid to students hasn’t kept up. A larger share of today’s college students are working adults with families and the cost of living for everyone has continued to skyrocket, leading many students to face obstacles finding enough to eat or a place to sleep.

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Naturally, the stress of navigating housing and food challenges can make it more difficult for students to focus on school, Goldrick-Rab said, and there are early indications that those struggles may lead more students to drop out of school. In addition, more than half of the students struggling with food or housing insecurity have a job, posing another obstacle to their ability to focus on their studies. “They’re working really hard and they’re getting really screwed,” Goldrick-Rab said.

Some schools and policy makers are working to address these challenges. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) asked the Government Accountability Office to study food insecurity — students’ difficulty finding affordable healthy food — at the nation’s colleges last month. Already, food pantries exist at about 400 colleges across the country.

But it’s still not enough, Goldrick-Rab said. Current laws, rules and regulations make it nearly impossible for college students to live in government-subsidized affordable housing. College students can apply for food stamps, but even if they meet the income requirements, they still may not meet other eligibility criteria, like a requirement to work at least 20 hours a week. What’s more, Goldrick-Rab notes, is that college students don’t have access to the same support available to K-12 students, like free or subsidized lunch.

The financial aid system also exacerbates these challenges, she said. Pell Grants, the money the government provides to low-income students to pay for college, hasn’t kept up with the rising cost of college, let alone living expenses. Now that lawmakers and higher education leaders have become more aware of the challenges college students face to find housing and food, the next step is for them to begin looking for ways to help students cope. “The need far outstrips the policy response,” she said.