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If you’d like to directly contact the University - email housinginfo@ucsd.edu

Housing Crisis Proposal

July 30th, 2021

Allyson (Kida) M. Bradley - Director of Events & Ian Fosth - AS Senator

ambradle@ucsd.edu / ifosth@ucsd.edu

Introduction

“In response to these complaints UCSD told The Guardian in an email that the university is doing its best to help as many students who applied to live on campus.”

We disagree.

Our campus is currently in a worsening housing crisis. After years of offering four years guaranteed housing, to two years, to finally (what seems to be) one year guaranteed housing, many students are facing and suffering from housing insecurity. Even in large groups, there seems to be less housing available on the market than there are students in need of housing. With this proposal we hope to bring to light the severity of the situation and provide solutions that the University should adopt and implement immediately, as to better serve students facing housing insecurity.

The Issue

The issue at hand is, on its face, quite simple - there are far more UCSD students than the on and off campus housing market can accommodate. Over 17,000+ beds on campus have been claimed, pushing more than 3,000 students off campus. Countless journalists have documented California’s messy housing market as apartment units and houses have continued increasing in price at a rate most residents struggle to keep up with. The situation is particularly unfortunate here in San Diego where, in addition to rising prices, the county is struggling to construct enough housing to remotely keep up with the population growth. This has been, in part, because some local residents fight back against new development, which would make the region more similar to Los Angeles, and because getting approval for new developments can be difficult depending on the type of housing built.

That said, another facet of the issue is California’s effort for UCs to accept more in-state students, and UCSDs adherence to this suggestion by accepting more candidates across the board. Due to the increase in students, UCSD, with the state’s approval, is contributing directly to the stress on housing insecure students and the housing market. And since demand for housing will continue growing, the door will only further open for landlords to take advantage of our student population by hiking prices to unreasonable levels. Furthermore, students are now not only expected to pay wild off campus housing prices, but also tuition increases despite no increase in aid through FASFA or Cal Grant.

For graduate students, upwards of ⅔’s of their income must now go towards rent increases which help pay for HDH’s 30 million dollar debt. UCSD’s justification for such a hike was because HDH has to be “self-supporting” and their main source of income is rent. Many are thus forced into the hard decision of packing themselves and their family units into small spaces simply to financially advance themselves through graduate school.

When graduates raised concerns about not having an adequate living space and not enough funds, Pierre Quillet, Chief Financial Officer of UCSD, was quoted as saying “by the time you leave grad school, maybe you’ll learn how to balance a budget.”

This year in particular, the combination of a change in housing policy coupled with the incredible uncertainty of the pandemic has made it particularly difficult for continuing students to secure the housing they need. Take, for example, the many students who, in accordance with previous HDH communications assumed they would have guaranteed 2nd year housing and were thus forced to scramble for housing during the summer. Of these scrambling students, potentially hundreds more students simply could not afford to make the trip to San Diego due to the ongoing complications of the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic.

In short, a combination of county and UCSD policy has now, once again, created an environment where thousands of UCSD students face the prospect of homelessness as they seek to complete their degrees and gain a college education. How are students expected to succeed in this environment where housing is hard to obtain, hard to secure, and limited to how many people it can serve?

Housing Crisis Data

US Department of Housing and Urban Development Data on Student Housing Insecurity (2015)

Key Highlights

Students often lack a rental history, someone to act as a guarantor, high credit score, or the savings for a security deposit.

At least 56,000 college students were homeless according to the 2013 FAFSA, but the true number is unknown.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2009 to 2011, 51.8 percent of students living off campus and not with relatives had incomes below the poverty level.

Living in poverty has a neurological impact which can impede academic success while also presenting students with difficult logistical hurdles. Low-income students’ unmet needs often induce them to enroll part time, live off campus, and work long hours at jobs while limiting their study time.

On the other side of the coin, living can put unique stresses on students, particularly those who are first-generation. For instance, an array of research demonstrates that first-generation students who live at home often experience strained relationships with family and friends who did not go to college.

Institutions often underestimate local living expenses compared with available federal data. Institutions’ living cost allowances 5 more frequently fell below these estimates.

Institutions face a variety of incentives to underestimate living costs, such as a desire to set a lower “sticker price.”
Schools might also seek to reduce students’ debt load in an attempt to reduce the likelihood the student will default.

In fact, students with low balances of student loan debt encounter the highest rates of financial hardship.

Action Items

We ask the university to consider and adopt viable solutions below to help those who struggle obtaining safe and affordable housing in the San Diego area. We also demand that the University, in conjunction with HDH, host a town hall to listen to first hand accounts of the housing crisis and answer directly to students what they plan to do to help those struggling to find adequate and affordable housing off campus.

Investing in alternative temporary emergency housing to provide more time and aid to those struggling to secure housing, lasting for at least one quarter.

Adopt a “Friends In Need”policy

Allowing residents of a suite to have the option to invite an individual, or individuals, “couch surf” in their lounge/living room space temporarily until secured housing is achieved.

Such policy could be paired with a registration system of sorts alongside certain potential requirements, such as routine Covid-19 testing, in order to mitigate the potential risks of a slightly more crowded living space.

Potentially providing air mattresses to students to “couch surf” if needed (since some lounges/living rooms have unconventionally small or non-accommodating couches).

Transforming several open spaces on campus into emergency living spaces to keep students off the street (ex.)

Converting the main gym into an emergency housing unit.
Converting parts of Price Center into an emergency housing unit.
Adding bungalows to Marshall field to create emergency housing.

Purchasing additional hotel rooms for students to stay in.
Offer or increase existing grants for students to purchase temporary airbnb housing.

Waive parking fee for those who do not have secured housing off campus.
Provide a space on campus for those who struggle with secure housing to handle basic hygiene needs.
Create dialogue and discussion with incoming students before they apply about the housing crisis and how it could affect them as a student here.

Dialogue should make students and college counselors aware that guaranteed two year housing is no longer available.
Dialogue should explain the intricacies of getting housing on campus and off campus.

Create dialogue before Spring Quarter on the updated lottery system and how limited housing will be allocated.

We assume the lottery system will have to be updated since it is based on people staying home due to the pandemic and reduced housing (the elimination of roommates) which is no longer in effect, making the current system outdated.

Conduct and provide better data on the housing crisis that is affecting UCSD students every two years so that it may be better understood and handled.