The Crisis of Student Housing

By Anonymous / Fall 2019

The Chancellor of UCSD says that “we (the university) will align our efforts to be a student-centered, research-focused, service-oriented public university.” Yet many of us disregard the contradictions derived from the policies, practices, and norms of our universities: we are promised a student-centered education, yet we often experience conditions that push our health and happiness to the background. As someone who is an intercampus transfer at the University of California, I have been experiencing these contradictions.

Within the University of California and the CSU campuses, the housing crisis is one of the urgent problems that students continue to address and raise awareness to the public and the administrators. In the CSU system, there are around 50,000 students who are homeless (2019). For instance, at California’s Humboldt State University, we can witness ​one out of five​ students who are homeless. In a “NowThis News” interview of a homeless student from Humboldt State University, she sleeps in her van that is located nearby the school’s forest and carries her bedroom closet on her shoulders to class. In a crowded van with almost no space for silverwares, she has been borrowing these necessities from the school’s cafeteria.

To address this problem comprehensively, we must look at the housing history and historical admission demographics, as two factors are interconnected. Moreover, the dominant ideologies such as neoliberalism have broken the University of California’s original promises to the public. This clash of ideologies affects every community; however, the most vulnerable are low-income and lower-middle income students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

These students fall into the social hierarchy known as the precariat. In this context, the students debtors are the “devalued masses who have marginal access to resources” (Twohig 2019). To overcome these profit-driven practices, I believe one key approach is a “revolution of values” — a historical yet relevant vision from Martin Luther King Jr. — that touches two fundamental characteristics of being human: altruism and kindness. The values and principles we should strive for are true democracy, solidarity, interconnectedness, and the notion of the common good. These principles will drive the administrators and policymakers to establish effective changes for the common good and lower the number of homeless students.

Just last year, we witnessed numerous news reports on the housing crisis campus-wide. At UC Santa Cruz, for example, the campus administrators asked faculty to house waitlisted students. This was the same approach that housing administrators used during 2014, and the occurrence indicates that it was a short-termed and irresponsible solution. In addition to housing shortages, the campus continues to plan to grow the enrollment size, yet there are no effective measures to accommodate the extra students (SF Gate, 2018). Students at UC San Diego experience a similar shortage of housing. The students who are on the waitlist are being assigned randomly to different parts of campus simply because there are not enough rooms in one college (The Triton, 2018). While at UC Berkeley, “the university provides virtually no below-market-rate housing although it is Berkeley’s largest landlord, housing just under 10,000 students” (SF Chronicle, 2018). The housing crisis affects the CSU campuses as well, in which San Jose State University has the highest number of homelessness in the CSU system (ABC7 News, 2018). From these news sources, we can clearly see this is an urgent problem in the UC system, and extensively, our education system.

Nevertheless, this is not a recent problem, the California housing shortage has been around since the 1970s. It is due to the imbalances in supply and demand. The California population and the number of jobs continue to grow, yet fewer houses are built. This simply drives up the prices of houses and rents at high rates. Ironically, California is the 5th largest economy in the world, yet it has the highest poverty rate and shared the highest homelessness percent in the nation (Census 2017). We can state that housing shortages affect the low-income class the most. According to the California Poverty Measure (CPM, 2017), Latinos and Black populations have the highest poverty rates in California, at 23.6% and 17.6%, respectively. Geographically, the UC campuses are located in areas that are historically selective. The historical formation of race and class translates to the housing crisis in universities.

Given the historical context of housing in California, we must also consider the historical admission demographics campus-wide. It is important to consider this factor as we cannot ignore race in our discussion of the housing crisis. In California, an important policy is the California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960. Basically, it is a policy that enables more people to attend higher education and to complete a 2-year or 4-year degree (UC: Office of the President). Furthermore, the plan sets up a path where community college students can transfer to a 4-year university and earn a Bachelor's degree. Nevertheless, as Saul Geiser and Richard C. Atkinson mentions in their report, “Latino, African American, and American Indian students in low-performing schools undoubtedly contributes to lower 4-year participation rates” (2012). The UC campus used to have affirmative action in place to account for the discrepancies; however, Prop 209 ended the affirmative action policy.

With the cuts in educational funds after the 2008 recession, the UC system began to find other ways to make up the differences; they started to accept more international and out-of-state students, which then has fewer spots open for the Californian students. This shifts the burden to the students and their families, which essentially pushes the UC system to establish a debt model instead of serving the public good. We should also consider the ideologies that are in practice. Dominant ideologies such as neoliberalism also broke the initial promise to the public. In a neolibreal society, as David Harvey explains, “individual success or failure are interpreted in terms of entrepreneurial virtues or personal failure” (Harvey 65). Higher education is being incorporated with corporatism, where students are taking loans and accumulate a large amount of student debt. Some of the homeless students from California’s Humboldt State University did not want to take loans to afford housing due to financial burden. And in some cases, loans are given out to students when they have consumed all of their financial aid options. Clearly, this clash of the original promises against practices truly affects the students, especially low-income family students, who are marginally excluded or excluded from the UC system.

With the above analysis, it is noticeable that there is an interconnection between the admission demographics and housing crisis. As we would expect, students from upper-middle-class will worry less about the housing crisis than students from low-income families and historically underrepresented backgrounds. In addition to student backgrounds, we should note that the administrators are making profit-driven decisions. For example, UC Berkeley “intends to construct student housing by signing a contract with a ​private developer”​ ; rather, “absorb a financial loss by constructing affordable housing on university-owned land to support low-income students” (SF Chronicle). Even if affordable housing is built, it is most likely to be at market rate. Economically disadvantaged students are being forced to live in cars, and some students are forced to drop out of college. International students and exchange students are affected as well because most landlords want some form of credit history. At UC San Diego, the problem rises in “a larger issue surrounding gender segregation and on-campus housing. At UCSD, nearly all suites and apartments are segregated by gender, with the exception of the LGBTQIA+ Living Learning Community (LLC) in Muir” (Triton News). Moreover, gender-inclusive housing is “geared towards continuing students” and incoming freshmen are excluded from the option of gender-inclusive housing.

To address this issue of housing crisis in the California universities, one key aspect is to have a “revolution of values...the shift of a ‘thing’-oriented society to a ‘person’-oriented society” (King 205). As I have mentioned, universities shifted the burden to the students that are placed in a education system. When the universities and local private property owners consider profits more important the students, the ideologies of materialism, selfishness, and individualism are embedded deeper in our society. The revolution in values brings out the characteristics of altruism and kindness from us. From “A Story of Our Times”, George Monbiot mentioned that “we [human] process an unparalleled sensitivity to the needs of others, a unique level of concern about their welfare, and a peerless ability to create moral norms that generalize and enforce these tendencies” (Monbiot 14). These values are fundamental to us, and they are the “original virtue”. In a neoliberal society, the ideology of individualism is heightened. Moreover, when we carry the burdens to ourselves, such as student debts, we have to cope with social pain. As Monbiot further states, “we...cannot cope alone; we need connection — togetherness — just as we need food and shelter” (Monbiot 15). For university students who are homeless, they have to deal with social pain and the need for shelter.

We should consider which guiding values and principles should be revolutionized. I believe the values and principles we should strive for are true democracy, solidarity, interconnectedness, and the notion of the common good. From “Requiem for the American Dream”, Noam Chomsky discusses that public universities were founded on the principle of solidarity. In a sense, the idea of togetherness, interconnectedness, and solidarity enable the vulnerable students to have a collective voice to demand for affordable and adequate housing. From “NowThis News” interview, the housing management director discusses the lack of emergency housing assistance. I believe that with these values in addition to democracy, the administrators will listen to the students. Similar to the creation of the Second Bill of Rights, we have to pressure the administrators, policy makers, and lawyers to take part in assisting the homeless students. Under the principle of solidarity, administrators can then make student-driven decisions, instead of profit-driven ones. In “Demands for the Third College”, Lumumba-Zapata College, the coalition demanded the college should establish a education curriculum for “minority youth and the study of contemporary social problems of all people” (Lumumba-Zapata Coalition 2). In a similar fashion, I believe that the universities, under the notion of the common good, should establish programs where students can learn how to apply for housing. And by giving back to the commons, the universities can effectively lower the number of homeless students.

We have witnessed many news reports over the recent years regarding the housing crisis in California. The housing crisis does not only affect university students, it is a fundamental problem that affects everybody. For example, there is a big issue with homelessness in San Francisco. Pass by through the financial district and Tenderloin district, you can see people in suits walking pass by homeless people sleeping on the street. Everytime I pass by there, it is always uncomfortable to witness it. However, there are organizations such as San Diego Housing Federation that are building and supporting affordable housing for the homeless. For university students, the housing crisis affects their ability to get an adequate education. Afterall, adequate housing for students is a form of security— a cornerstone for their well being.

Works Cited

Nguyen, Chris. “San Jose State University Has Highest Number of Homeless Students across CSU System.” ABC7 San Francisco, 7 Dec. 2018

Ioannou, Filipa. “UC Santa Cruz Begs Faculty to House Students Because Housing Crisis Is so Bad.” SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle, 31 Aug. 2018

Lumumba-Zapata Coalition. “Demands for the Third College”

King Jr., Martin Luther. “The World House.” Where Do We Go From Here” Chaos or Community? Beacon, 2010. Pp. 177-202

Klyman, Kevin. “UC Berkeley Is Making the Student Housing Crisis Worse.” SFChronicle.com, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Mar. 2019

Monbiot, George. “A Story of Our Times.” Out of the Wreckage. Verso, 2017. pp. 1-28

Prudhon, Paige. “UCSD Needs To Address Its Housing Crisis.” THE TRITON, 26 Apr. 2018

“Requiem for the American Dream.” 20 Oct. 2016

“Who's in Poverty in California?” Public Policy Institute of California.

“How Homeless College Students get by at California’s Humboldt State.”