Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times documented a campus housing shortage at many University of California System schools.
UC Irvine is no different, as the number of people looking for student housing is far outpacing the amount of housing available.
The school has a waiting list of more than 3,000 students looking for campus housing, such as UC Irvine student Clari Gao.
“I signed on with a roommate at the exact same time. She got it, I didn’t and this is the experience for a lot of people as well,” Gao said.
The high prices of rental properties has driven many students back to campus, where housing costs are typically lower, said Tim Trevan, executive director of student housing.
“We shoot for a rental point that’s about 30% below the surrounding market,” he said.
Another complication: the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited how many people could (or wanted to) share a room.
The L.A. Times reported that UCLA, Davis, San Diego, Merced and Santa Barbara were able to accommodate all housing requests for this fall, though it wasn’t exactly easy, as UC San Diego created 700 more beds on campus by tripling up some rooms.
At UC Irvine, some students, including Gao, have found a place to live off campus, but not everyone is as fortunate.
Trevan said the school has a method of helping students “who are really in desperate need of housing,” which he said happens “occasionally.”
“We’ve got campus social workers who are able to connect students with basic needs housing in the community,” he said. “We also have our off-campus housing network on our website where students can go and look for rooms to rent, rooms, apartments to share and whole apartments.
Gao wants the school to also offer hotel vouchers to the students who do not have a place to live.
“I don’t need a hotel voucher because I do have a place to stay, and I’m very lucky to have found one. But a lot of people don’t,” Gao said. “And, you know, they should have they should have these basic living needs met.”