UCSC student family housing plans relocation, as rent jumps $7,200 a year
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Student families living at UC Santa Cruz are bracing for a major rent increase.
The university is planning to demolish its existing Family Student Housing complex, and families currently living there will be required to relocate to a new facility on the east side of campus.
The move comes with a significant price tag. Rent will rise from under $1,900 to $2,500 per month, a 30% jump.
Alex Stokes, a graduate student and mother, says the new complex is financially out of reach for many residents.
“This new complex is even more unaffordable for the students, many of whom work for the university, some are on fellowship and can't work, some are international,” Stokes said.
Currently, the Family Student Housing complex houses 199 units. But according to Stokes, the new development will offer fewer.
“There are going to be far fewer units in this new complex. Now, there are, I believe, 199 the number of units is going to be decreased by a third, which does not track in terms of the number of people who have been on the waitlist,” Stokes said.
The university says the rent hike is necessary to cover rising operational costs, including building expenses, staff salaries, and utilities.
Officials argue the real increase is closer to $250 once you account for utilities being included in the new rate.
Still, some students are worried they’ll have no choice but to leave.
“For people who are being priced out, no, you're on your own. You're either finding a studio apartment for you and your kids, or you're moving out of Santa Cruz,” Stokes said.
Around the complex, signs reading “No Rent Hike for Student Families” are taped to buildings in protest. And for some, the impact is already personal.
“My daughter’s best friend’s family won’t be moving with us to the new unit because they can’t afford it. So yeah, people are going to have to figure other things out, and the university is going to suffer from that,” Stokes said.
Some tenants have posted signs on empty units to highlight how many sit vacant while others remain stuck on waitlists.
“We have classmates and colleagues who’ve been on the waitlist for two or three years. The idea that these units aren’t needed just isn’t true,” Stokes said.
Students also say the university is overlooking how little most of them actually make.
“They’re certainly not taking into account the earnings of current grad students who live here now, or undergrads, even who aren’t being paid by the university,” Stokes said.
Now, residents are calling for action.
“We are asking for meaningful engagement, because if the university values the diversity it says it does, and the community that it draws, then it needs to respond and support the community,” Stokes said.
The university says the new Family Student Housing community is expected to open in late 2025, with families beginning to move in during the winter quarter.
