Over the past 50 years, Tribal Colleges and Universities have protected highly endangered languages and provided access to higher education for students who might not ever have had the opportunity to go to college.

Yet despite their many achievements, these institutions have yet to gain the level of recognition and funding they need to reach their full potential—and, in turn, to provide equitable education opportunities to Native people so that they may do the same.

Matthew Chin is a third-year environmental studies student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Because housing near campus is so expensive, he lives in a used trailer that he parks in a driveway—a driveway he rents for $750 a month.

Chin's precarious living situation is far from unique. This episode of Gimme Shelter explores how California's housing challenges are making it harder for college students to get an education. 

Photo: Ryan Stanton

Young voters made their voices heard during the recent midterms with a near-record turnout at the ballot box. Still, university students and voting rights advocates say voters on college campuses faced far too many difficulties trying to cast their ballots.

Collegiate get-out-the-vote organizers are now pushing state lawmakers to expand same-day voter registration, better train election staff, encourage college students to serve as poll workers, and work with universities to make it easier for students to vote.