IRS to Low-Income Students: Take Fewer Classes, or Face Eviction

By Kelvin Eckman

I am being evicted for being a full-time college student. That may sound absurd, yet it is my current reality—and I am quite sure the same is true for many low-income students trying to stay housed while navigating higher education.

For more than 20 years, I have experienced chronic homelessness. I am a first-generation college student, a former foster youth, formerly justice-impacted, and a student living with HIV/AIDS. I am also a participant in the Disability Services Programs for Students (DSPS) program.

Two years ago, after decades of instability, I decided to return to college. I secured housing in a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) apartment in San Francisco right as I began my studies, believing that this would provide me the foundation I needed to complete my education and end my chronic homelessness once and for all.

This is my third attempt at college over a span of 24 years, with each prior attempt derailed by housing instability. When I enrolled at City College of San Francisco in June 2024, I began taking classes part-time. At no point when I moved in was I informed by my apartment manager that enrolling as a full-time student—12 units or more—could disqualify me from LIHTC housing under the IRS “Full-Time Student Rule.”

Yet to qualify for financial aid, a former foster youth grant and other essential support programs, I must stay enrolled in at least 12 units. And in order to complete my education in a reasonable timeframe and transfer to San Francisco State University—I was accepted in mid-February—to pursue a bachelor’s degree, I have consistently been enrolled in 15-plus units.

At my annual low-income housing recertification in October 2025, management informed me that I was in violation of federal LIHTC regulations solely because I am a full-time student. My case was referred to their attorney, and I was issued a 30-day eviction notice. As of March 1, I began eviction proceedings.

I have had to find a pro-bono attorney, who has helped me navigate the eviction. But most likely, I will have to find housing elsewhere or face a forced moveout. In effect, I am being evicted for pursuing higher education.

The system is broken. It should be lifting low-income individuals out of poverty instead of forcing students like me into an impossible choice: reduce course loads and lose financial aid eligibility, or maintain full-time status and lose housing. Either path undermines any chance at long-term stability.

The IRS policy disproportionately harms the very populations California community colleges are meant to serve—former foster youth, justice-impacted students, Pell Grant recipients, students living with disabilities and those emerging from chronic homelessness.

In high cost of living regions like San Francisco, stable housing is a necessity; it is the difference between continuation or dropping out.

Housing instability is one of the strongest predictors of educational attrition. Without housing security, academic performance, mental health, and completion rates decline and suffer. We cannot claim to value educational equity while enforcing housing policies that disincentivize full-time enrollment.

The IRS Full-Time Student Rule under the LIHTC program must be amended to include categorical protections for financially vulnerable students who depend on full-time enrollment for financial aid and degree progression.

Students should not be forced into part-time status to remain housed. Nor should they be pushed into homelessness for seeking to accelerate their education.

Expanding access to higher education—such as through programs like Free City College—is crucial. But without addressing systemic barriers such as the Full-Time Student Rule, many underprivileged students will be left behind.