The community colleges in San Diego could soon be providing housing on campus. San Diego City College recently received a $344,000 grant from the state for a feasibility study for a proposed 13-story student housing building. The building would be at 16th and B Street in Downtown San Diego, right next to the San Diego City College campus.
The proposed project would be for City College students and be able to house 613 students with 209 units. According to KPBS, the rent would be below market value and the housing would be given to low-income students. Along with the $344,000 grant, Southwestern College received a $1 million grant to conduct a similar study on housing for its four South Bay campuses.
Student housing has recently become a priority for San Diego Community Colleges. San Diego Community College District Chancellor Carlos Turner Cortez told Voice of San Diego that they could potentially make money from student housing, but that they needed funding for the project. Cortez and Trustee President Maria Nieto Senour wrote an op-ed in the Union-Tribune about how student housing could loop the different campuses. The two wrote, “while the SDCCD does not have significant funding to build new housing, what it does have is real estate at 10 campus locations across San Diego.”
Currently, the San Diego Community College District has 36,245 students enrolled according to their most recent census. Of those students, 38% make $33,000 or more and about half make less than $33,000. Also, 62% are non-first-generation college students and 91% are already residents of San Diego. Most community college students generally prefer to continue living with their parents as most of them transfer to another school after their second year at community college. It is interesting that the Community College District would think of such an investment without fully understanding the demographics and behaviors of the students that are enrolled.
Photo Cred: San Diego Community College District
