Learning Ecosystems

BOSTON — For homeless college students, even the smallest details can become big hurdles: a $5 student ID, a housing or enrollment deposit, a place to keep a birth certificate or Social Security card.

Financial aid officers are often the ones who have to confront these issues. And as homelessness has increased during the recession, the population of college students who are homeless and without their parents is likely to grow in the coming years, financial aid officials were told at the annual conference of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators here on Tuesday.

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The population is also growing, she said. The number of homeless youth has increased 69 percent in the past two years, to 1.6 million. Some are runaways; others are from chaotic family situations, maintaining contact with parents and siblings but spending the majority of nights on friends’ couches or in cars or mobile homes.