Two college professors are so passionate about their jobs that they won't give them up, even as they remain homeless due to low wages. 

Read: Woman Has Given 1,300 Haircuts to the Homeless: 'It Takes So Little to Be Good to People'

Ellen James-Penney loves being an English professor. When she leaves work at San Jose State University in California, she heads to her car, where she lives.  

She says she earns just $25,000 per year and therefore can't afford a home.    

At night, she grades papers in the back of her vehicle with the help of a light that's strapped to her head.

“You don’t know how I feel, sitting in the back of a car with a headlamp on grading papers,” she told Inside Edition. 

While her situation may seem rare, she is not alone. 

Michelle Mitchell, an adjunct professor of religion at Florida's Broward College, has two 2 master’s degrees, but lives out of a van that's stationed in a Walmart parking lot. 

Read: Teen Brings Community Together to Surprise Homeless Families With Place of Their Own

She keeps all of her belongings in the van and uses the school's bathroom to get ready, and the cafeteria to heat up microwavable meals.

For both professors, the fear of being homeless takes a backseat to the fear of giving up the profession they love.