...Recent news about UC Santa Barbara’s plans to build a 4,500-bed mega-dorm with tiny rooms and few windows — derisively dubbed “Dormzilla” — sparked outrage and national headlines. But the more urgent problem is a campus affordable housing crisis hitting thousands of students across California’s three public university systems — leaving some unsheltered, others with mounting debt burdens and many filled with anxiety and stress.
More than 16,000 students at the University of California and California State University were on waitlists for housing this fall, despite construction of 36,000 beds by both systems since 2015, according to a new report by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office. UC Berkeley alone turned away more than 5,500 housing requests this fall, and 40% of undergraduates are unable to live in the city due to scarce supply and high rents, the campus reports...
The growing housing stresses are rooted in a confluence of factors. Under political pressure to boost enrollment, UC added 27,583 undergraduates — but about 22,000 beds — since 2015. Community protests, environmental concerns and litigation have slowed down or halted at least six UC housing projects in the last three years...
The pandemic has also played a role. UC San Diego, for instance, eliminated triple-occupancy rooms this fall due to COVID-19 restrictions; the net loss in housing capacity caused the campus to eliminate its two-year housing guarantee until fall 2023, the Triton student newspaper reported. Campuses had to set aside dorm rooms to quarantine those who are infected with the virus or who had been closely exposed to it. UC Berkeley, for example, took out 130 rooms.
Similar concerns also affected the housing market in Santa Barbara. More students are opting for fewer roommates to minimize the risk of infection, a choice that has left more of them scrambling for places to live, said Robin Unander, a UC Santa Barbara student legal services advisor...
Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-12/california-housing-crisis-hits-unhoused-college-students.
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