UC Santa Cruz students struggle to find housing as new school year begins

It’s the beginning of a new school year for UC Santa Cruz students who were busy moving in on campus for the first time Friday.

But for students who want to live off campus — it’s a difficult search.

Move-in day is supposed to be an exciting time for many students. They meet new faces and they’re getting established in a new environment.

For some students, however, it’s been hectic trying to secure a home off-campus because of the expensive housing market.

Incoming freshman Abigail Eller said it was difficult for her to decide what she was going to bring to the university and what she was going to leave behind.

Her sister, Winnie Ellerman, is a junior and she says she is excited to have her sister here and to show her the ropes.

Winnie decided to stay living on campus this year.

“You think you just want to get them out of the house but when you actually get here it’s pretty tough to go through,” said the girls’ father, Howell Ellerman.

The ellermans didn’t have a hard time finding housing on campus. That’s because this year — there are 200 more available beds than last year.

Living off campus is a different story.

“There’s a really tight rental market in Santa Cruz,” said Guy Lasnier, a spokesman for the university.

Students are facing some competition for rental housing.

“What happens is the older students want to live off campus,” says Lasnier. “They don’t want to live on campus anymore so they’re competing in a tight rental market and it’s been difficult for some of them, particularly those who waited until late in the summer to find a place.”

The university is seeing a strong freshmen class enrollment this year — with a little larger than the largest class they’ve ever had — a record 4,030 freshmen students, compared to 3,300 last fall.

“We had a record number of people visit this spring with their families and they’re excited,” said Lasnier. “They want to come to UC Santa Cruz.”