Beginning Jan. 31, new federal housing requirements will make it more difficult for full-time college students to qualify for subsidized housing.

Unmarried, full-time students under the age of 24 will not be able to apply for housing subsidies regardless of their income levels, said Betty Corman, section 8 coordinator for the Centre County Housing Authority.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Appropriations Act, which Congress passed in the fall, also states that married students under 24 qualify only if they have children.

Under current housing requirements, any undergraduate who fell into low-income categories could apply for subsidized housing.

Maria Bynum, HUD spokeswoman, said the purpose of the bill is to help low-income families, for whom subsidized housing is intended.

"The true intention of the subsidies was to help low-income families, who were working," she said. "And since students were able to qualify on a technicality, the act lets us reach those intended."

However, the executive director for Temporary Housing Inc. in State College, Ron Quinn, said students taking subsidized housing is not a problem in the borough.

Quinn said he has heard of graduate students applying, but even that was rare.

"I think married graduate students that meet the income requirements are qualified for subsidized housing," he said.

Penn State Housing Director Sandy Harpster also said this was really the only scenario she could see happening.

"Some graduate students look very closely at their finances," she said. "But most undergraduates are still considered dependents."

Harpster said that for an undergraduate to receive such potential benefits, students would have to be independent from their parents' income -- unless their parents are qualified for subsidies.

"It would depend upon your income. You would have to fill out the paperwork," she said.

Quinn said there is already a one- to two-year wait for subsidized housing in Centre County.

"With such a waiting list, students have not tried to qualify for subsidies," he said. "There is already a lack of subsidized housing in the area."

Quinn said students who have traditionally supported the rental market have kept the cost of living high in State College, which has resulted in another problem.

"Someone may just be entering the workforce, have good credit, but just unable to afford a home," he said.

Linda Marshall, senior planner at the Centre County Planning Office, said this was the real issue.

"Students have sacked the apartments in State College," she said.

Marshall said the Centre County government recently completed an entire needs assessment and found that workforce housing affordable to young professionals was in high demand.

"That's everyone from someone who flips hamburgers to recent college graduates," she said.

She said a local hospital is having trouble hiring nurses because of the lack of affordable housing.

"He was hiring nurses in a 500-mile radius but wasn't sure where they were going to live," she said.