Toki Tokijkla

HSCI 6330
Dr. Henley

California
Student
Housing
Crisis
Policy Brief
 Policy Brief: California Student Housing Crisis

Executive Summary

Students attending higher education are currently dealing with an ongoing

housing crisis, including attendees of California State University (CSU) and University of

California (UC) institutions. Students may suffer from lack of affordable housing, or from

lack of housing availability. Many students rely on campus housing to provide a safe

and stable environment for living and learning, but being unable to access housing may

cause undue stress on students and potentially lead to dropping out or otherwise not

finishing their degree.

Assembly bill 1377, also known as California Student Housing Revolving Loan

Fund Act of 2021, and Assembly Bill 138, as it pertains to the Higher Education Student

Housing Grant Program, aim to address this issue at its source by creating new

affordable student housing. Each features their own unique requirements which funding

is contingent upon, and both legislative bills share the primary goal of ensuring that the

housing needs of California students are met within the University of California,

California State University, and California Community College systems.

Context

The most recent CSU study of student service access and basic needs (2019)

found that approximately 10.8% of CSU students were identified as being homeless

according to the U.S. Department of Education definition of “...lack[ing] a regular, fixed

and adequate nighttime residence” (Crutchfield). Many students rely on campus

housing as a more affordable option than off-campus housing, as many college towns

are idyllic locations with high costs of living, but campuses currently do not have enough

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bed spaces available. In the Fall of 2022, 9,400 students across the UC system were

denied campus housing due to shortages (Tobias). While certainly not every student will

require campus housing, and most students will move off-campus at some point during

their undergrad program, the demand for student housing continues to increase. Some

schools offered a one or two year housing guarantee, ensuring that students would

have secured campus housing for at least a portion of the undergrad period, but many

schools repealed this during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a reduction in bed spaces

as a safety precaution.

Information from 2021 State Assembly Report and UC and CSU system enrollment data

According to a 2021 State Assembly report, 1 in 20 students at UC, 1 in 10

students at CSU, and 1 in 5 students at California Community Colleges reported

experiencing homelessness during the academic year (McCarty). Additionally, it was

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reported that the portion of cost of college attendance associated with housing was 53%

and 45% for CSU and UC schools respectively (McCarty).

It is highly likely that this issue has only become exacerbated due to the rising

state-wide housing crisis, in addition to the issue of campus housing projects being put

on hold either due to the pandemic or budget issues.

While California values its ability to widely provide higher education, the high

costs of housing may cause students to be unable to finish their degree, or dissuade

potential students from attending altogether. In order to ensure that California students

are able to get a quality education while having their basic needs met, measures must

be taken to secure them affordable housing.

Critique of Policy Options

AB1377 aimed to create a program which would award funds to UC and CSU

schools to create new affordable student housing based on the program’s parameters

for housing and requirements for program participation. The bill would require all CSU

schools to apply, and encourage UC schools to apply. In order to receive funds, schools

must provide a detailed assessment on student needs, and create a five year plan on

how they intend to meet those needs. They must also submit a report annually detailing

how program funds were used, how they are working towards achieving their goals, and

what barriers they have faced, if any. The program also includes criteria for projects

which would be prioritized for funding. This policy intends to strike a balance between

funding university housing externally while also holding schools accountable throughout

the process, however this program has been insufficient on its own in terms of funding

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these projects, which poses an issue as construction costs rise. It has been proposed

that this program be put on pause as of May 8th, 2023.

AB138 aimed to provide money to UC and CSU schools directly as a dedicated

portion of the state budget, in order to provide for the number of students the state

requires to be enrolled to close the degree gap. Housing built using funds from this

budget are rent controlled, at 30% of 50% of the local median income. If enacted as

planned, this would relieve the issue regarding lack of affordable student housing, and

provide funding to schools on a revolving basis to continue expansion. The parameters

on AB138 are much more lax than AB1377, and would provide a significant amount

more funding, totaling to about $2 billion dollars distributed between all systems over

the course of three years. Unfortunately, due to budget deficits, funding for this has

been delayed for 2023-24, with the intention of instead funding the amount over the

remaining two years (Tobias). Budget deficits are projected to continue in the following

years, making the implementation of this budget plan uncertain.

Policy Recommendations

Ensuring that funding is secured for student housing while also holding schools

accountable for providing for students’ needs can be difficult, especially with the

statewide budget deficit and the increase in construction costs. In order to ensure that

funding is acquired and schools are meeting student needs, an adjusted version of the

California Student Housing Revolving Loan Fund Act in addition to the rent parameters

given by AB138 should be used. Based on the needs assessment schools have already

conducted, and the five-year plan they created when applying for the AB1377 program,

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schools should provide half of the construction cost, with the state matching the cost to

reach the full amount. All public four year institutions should be required to participate.

Additionally, schools should be held liable to adhere to their approved five year plan or

face a suitable penalty, unless barriers can be justified and overcome based on the

criteria given by AB1377. Schools should also be required to create a plan to fund their

capital renewal backlog, which has continued to grow to $7.3 billion within the UC

system alone; project backlogs may make costs increase further and endanger

students. While many universities may be opposed to this, arguing that they do not have

it in their budget, and that construction and operation costs are too high, the matter

remains that schools make a significant amount of money from students and student

residents through tuition, housing, parking, and other fees. Even when the housing

provided is rent controlled, schools still make a decent profit given the amount of

students in a single building. Since housing is a basic need that many students are

lacking, it is now the responsibility of schools to ensure that basic need is met, and

should be treated with high priority. Additionally, schools are likely to continue to benefit

from the investment of new housing, as most schools are increasing enrollment every

year, and will accrue revenue from student residents.

According to a budget brief from February 2023, the UC system is reported to

have a yearly budget of $46.9 billion dollars for the 2022-2023 year. The UC system

pays for their operating costs through their core budget, which is comprised of the

General Fund and student tuition and fees (Petek). However, the core budget makes up

less than a quarter of their overall budget. It is then not unreasonable to request that the

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UC system pay to house students and maintain their campuses, especially given that

the universities are the system's primary product.

(Petek)

The same analysis of the CSU system reported that their budget for the 2022-23

year was $12.4 billion, with their core fund being about 70% of their overall budget and

the General Fund making up the majority (Petek). Despite having a much smaller

budget than the UC system, their uncommitted core reserves have increased over the

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past three years. Additionally, CSU still has a remaining unspent $134 million in

COVID-19 relief funds they are required to spend by June 30, 2023. Through this lens, it

is difficult to argue that the school is under particularly difficult financial hardship which

would prevent them from being able to reasonably provide housing for students.

(Petek)

In addition to requiring schools to meet the needs of their students, it is also

worth examining policy which would cap rent in a designated percentage of units in

areas near universities. This would not only help relieve students of their housing crisis,

but also help relieve locals of the housing crises in those areas as well. While students

tend to be particularly affected, due to the nature of university costs, people all over the

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 Policy Brief: California Student Housing Crisis

state of California are suffering from a lack of affordable housing. By addressing this

concern off of campuses, we can eliminate multiple issues at once. Using the rent

limitations set by AB138 as a guide, rent capped at 30% of 50% of area median income

would definitely benefit many in the state of California who are struggling with the rising

cost of housing. For a policy like this, a needs assessment should be conducted in

these areas to determine what proportion of units need to be rent capped.

That being said, institutions need to be held accountable for providing for the

needs of students, and this includes housing. Ensuring that students’ needs are met

should be considered an integral part of their operating costs, and the fact that these

needs continue to go neglected is unacceptable. This issue becomes especially

pressing when considering that the state is pushing for public universities to close the

degree gap by enrolling more students year after year. Increasing affordable housing

may come with a heavy buy-in cost, but overall will be a worthwhile investment for

schools.

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Works Cited

California State University. (n.d.). Enrollment. The California State University.

https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/facts-about-the-csu/enrollment

Crutchfield, R. M., & Maguire, J. (n.d.). Basic Needs Initiative. Student well-being &

basic needs | CSU - California state university.

https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/basic-needs-initiative

McCarty, K. (2021, August 21). ASSEMBLY BUDGET SUBCOMMITTEE NO. 2 ON

EDUCATION FINANCE. Welcome to Assembly Committee on Budget | Committee on

Budget.

https://abgt.assembly.ca.gov/sites/abgt.assembly.ca.gov/files/FINAL%20Sub%202%20

Nov%208%20Agenda.pdf

Petek, G. (2023a, February 7). California State University. The 2023-24 Budget:

California State University.

https://www.lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4671#:~:text=CSU%20Budget%20Is%20%2

412.4%20Billion,to%20support%20its%20academic%20mission

Petek, G. (2023b, February 15). University of California. The 2023-24 Budget:

University of California.

https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4684#:~:text=in%20this%20series.-,Overview,CS

U%20and%20CCC%20budgets%20combined

Tobias, M. (2022, November 17). How California’s housing crisis hurts college students.

CalMatters.

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 Policy Brief: California Student Housing Crisis

https://calmatters.org/multimedia/podcasts/gimme-shelter/2022/11/california-student-ho

using-crisis/

University of California. (n.d.). UC Accountability Report 2021. University of California |

Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment.

https://accountability.universityofcalifornia.edu/2021/chapters/chapter-1.html

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