As most of the University of California campuses have returned this fall quarter for in-person classes, a pressing problem has come their way that has deeply affected student living: the housing crisis.
This year, around 9,400 students across the UC campuses were denied housing, and this problem has continued to grow exponentially throughout the years of the UC’s expanding their class sizes. Some campuses even resort to squeezing three to four students into a 2-bedroom dorm.
Students across California have witnessed this growing issue and fear the dreaded annual time when they must register for student housing and fight for the limited number of spots.
“We all become so stressed towards the end of the quarter when we all have to look for housing”, said Emily Hyun, a student at UC Davis.
Emily is one of many UC Students who have had difficulty finding housing. The crisis has affected schools all across California, including UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and UC San Diego.
Unfortunately, this issue has become so huge, some students even resort to seeking out staying in hotels for housing.
“My professor was telling us how he knows a student who rented an RV and lives on campus,” Ava Markovich, a freshman at UC Santa Barbara said.
And although the UC campuses seem to be aware of their growing issue, the students believe the UCs have made minimal effort to sustain their housing. Campuses such as UC Santa Barbara have announced plans for new housing, however, the students feel unsafe about the new housing plans.
UC Santa Barbara’s latest housing plan, Munger Hall, is set to be made without windows and with only one exit, scaring students. And campuses such as UC Berkeley and UC San Diego have also announced new plans for housing, however, students are not pleased.
UC San Diego student Jean Lee says she is not satisfied with the lack of focus on the housing crisis.
“I know they are building new buildings for housing, but they seem to focus on building other things for the school such as new parking lots and classrooms”, said Jean.
And even the campuses that are focused on building new housing projects do not seem to be popular with students.
“Unfortunately, Berkeley is building new housing on People’s Park, which is traditionally a park where many unhoused people live. I don’t understand why they have to build it specifically there and kick out the unhoused people when Berkeley can afford to just build it somewhere else”, said Jenna Rizzi, a freshman at UC Berkeley.
The UC campuses are expected to expand even further this upcoming college acceptance season.
