{"id":85543,"date":"2026-01-13T14:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/85543\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T14:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:17:07","slug":"2026-affordability-issues-impact-pitt-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/85543\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 affordability issues impact Pitt students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Americans are struggling with affordability<\/a> this year, with housing costs<\/a> rising and health care premiums<\/a> spiking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pitt students are feeling the financial pressure this year, too \u2014 citing higher housing and grocery prices \u2014 and some are picking up more work shifts to combat the cost.<\/p>\n

Polling<\/a> in the last month shows that almost half the country is struggling to afford the cost of living, and Americans are souring on their approval<\/a> of the current economy. Politicians<\/a> and news outlets<\/a> have dubbed 2026 the \u201cyear of affordability\u201d in response to growing affordability concerns across America.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dylan Lescisin, a first-year biology and Japanese-language student, is living off-campus in Glenshaw with his parents until he can afford to rent an apartment near campus. Lescisin said South Oakland housing is unaffordable for him, even while working two jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of days where I\u2019m out of the house, 13 hours of classes and work, and at least half of my week is like that,\u201d Lescisin said. \u201cI have to save up to be able to move on to campus, but then there\u2019s groceries and other things you have to worry about too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genesee Diggins-Kennedy, a senior nursing student, has seen her rent increase by $300 total this year. Currently working 20 hours per week to pay for rent in South Oakland, she has picked up more work shifts to mitigate the increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the increase of rent, I need to pick up another shift and make sure I\u2019m better outlining [my work schedule],\u201d Diggins-Kennedy said. \u201cI\u2019m already living paycheck to paycheck, and I haven\u2019t even graduated yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eryn Murphy, a recent graduate who majored in natural sciences, lives in South Oakland and worked 36 hours per week to afford her rent, utility, grocery and gas bills as a student. Murphy said she believes the cost of housing in Oakland is too high for a predominantly student population.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [the cost of housing is too much] for students because a lot of people that I know are working so that they can pay their rent,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cTheir parents aren\u2019t paying their rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrea Boykowycz, the executive director of Oakland Planning and Development Corporation<\/a>, said Oakland\u2019s cost of housing is attributed to the dramatic increase in students<\/a> at Pitt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest driver of unaffordability in all four of Oakland\u2019s neighborhoods is increasing student demand without a corresponding increase in supply that is available, accessible, desirable and affordable for students,\u201d Boykowycz said.<\/p>\n

To mitigate the issue, Boykowycz said the OPDC advocates to the University that it should follow through on increasing on-campus housing<\/a> for undergraduates. However, according to Boykowycz, there is not one clear solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big problem, and we\u2019re aware there\u2019s not just a single solution,\u201d Boykowycz said. \u201cWe have to press on all the buttons at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amelia Silber, a sophomore neuroscience student, secured a lease for next year on a three-bedroom duplex in South Oakland for $750 per month. Silber said she feels \u201clucky\u201d for this, due to the heavy competition. Silber asked friends and secured the lease through personal connections, which she felt aided in the effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought if we searched on our own, we wouldn\u2019t be finding good deals,\u201d Silber said. \u201cWe talked to friends, figured out who had upperclassmen siblings that were graduating, and then we took it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lea Omer, a sophomore English literature and Russian-language student, said relying on connections to find housing is problematic and adds to the competitive nature of finding housing in Oakland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have connections,\u201d Omer said. \u201cUsually [it\u2019s the case where] someone graduates and they\u2019re gone, so they have a spot to fill, so I feel like it\u2019s pretty hard to get housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omer planned on living on-campus, but now lives in an apartment in Shaler Township because of what she deems high-housing pricing in Oakland.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy initial plan was actually to move into one of Pitt\u2019s apartment-style housing so that you didn\u2019t have to have a meal plan, but the reason I didn\u2019t was because it was quite expensive,\u201d Omer said.<\/p>\n

Lauren Hinrichsen, a sophomore political science and Russian-language student, said she believes there are some perks Pitt offers to help with affordability, but she believes Oakland is an overall unaffordable area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we have access to a lot of things with our tuition, like free transport on the buses, but there\u2019s a lot of things about living in this area that are unaffordable,\u201d Hinrichsen said.<\/p>\n

Hinrichsen pointed out the lack of grocery stores<\/a> in the neighborhood. When she lived in Oakland last year, transportation to grocery stores was her biggest roadblock. Hinrichsen moved to Shadyside this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more expensive grocery stores are closer, like Giant Eagle,\u201d Hinrichsen said. \u201cIn Shadyside, it\u2019s a lot closer to grocery stores [which has] reduced my cost of living in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she appreciates the free transportation as a Pitt student, Saanvi Tiruveedhula, a junior biology and neuroscience student, uses Instacart<\/a> to grocery shop. Tiruveehdula said she believes groceries cost less off-campus, but riding the bus can take a while.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Taking the bus] is sometimes a whole day trip, but with a car it might be better,\u201d Tiruveedhula said.<\/p>\n

KB Huang, a senior biology student, hails from Chicago, which she believes is a comparably less affordable city than Pittsburgh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Pittsburgh is more of an affordable city compared to Chicago, where I used to live,\u201d Huang said. \u201cGroceries here are a lot cheaper, especially if you go to Aldi or Trader Joe\u2019s instead of Whole Foods, for example.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Americans are struggling with affordability this year, with housing costs rising and health care premiums spiking.\u00a0 Pitt students…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[21193,61,42784,73,75,74,42785],"class_list":{"0":"post-85543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-affordability","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-financial-stability","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","13":"tag-pittsburgh-news","14":"tag-student-finances"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}