The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Education Assistance Act, otherwise known as Title X Part C of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, ensures that homeless children and youth have access to public education. Students between ages of 5 and 21 have the right to attend school, even if they:

• Lack fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence
  
• Share housing (due to loss or hardship)
  
• Live in hotels, motels, trailer homes, campgrounds, emergency or transitional shelters, or are abandoned in hospitals
  
• Are awaiting foster care placement
  
• Have a primary night time residence not designed or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation
  
• Live in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, or similar settings
  
• Are an unaccompanied youth (youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian)
  
• Are migratory children who qualify as homeless because of their living situation
  

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For more information about homeless education:

National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
National Center for Homeless Education at SERVE
NCHE Publications and Products
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty