Low enrollment at San Francisco State University has been cited to explain class cuts, faculty layoffs, tuition raises and other unfortunate outcomes of a campus-wide downsize.
However, one thing that some students can benefit from when they are in a shrinking university is guaranteed housing.
This semester, SFSU was able to offer guaranteed housing to freshmen for the first time in its history.
“We continuously look at what our enrollment is, what our demand for on-campus housing is and what capacity we have for on-campus housing,” said SFSU Senior Associate Vice President Katie Lynch, who’s in charge of enrollment management.
According to Fall 2023 university institutional research, close to 40% of California-residing first-time freshmen come from outside the Bay Area and close to 150 first-time freshmen come from outside California. SFSU faced the need to expand its housing offerings to accommodate its out-of-area students.
On a national scale, 48% of college students experienced housing insecurity in 2023 and 2024, according to an annual survey done by The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs.
But SFSU’s new housing plan works to combat the nationwide issue on a local level.
According to Lynch, the university plans to guarantee housing for first-time freshmen, first-year transfer students and international students by Fall 2025.
While students could opt to live in San Francisco’s off-campus housing, it may not be the most financially wise choice. San Francisco’s median gross rent is $2,316, almost doubling the national gross rent of $1,268, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In comparison, SFSU’s newest residence hall, West Grove Commons, which is exclusively for freshmen, offers more affordable rates. Residents pay $1,251 a month, which is $17 less than the national gross rent.
If first-time freshmen receive either Cal Grant A or B, they are eligible to pay 25% less than the traditional rate through the reduced-rate housing program.
First-time freshman Orion Duran’s main factor in choosing to dorm in West Grove Commons this semester was the reduced rate and the ability to avoid the cost of commuting.
“I live in Santa Cruz, so I live over 70 miles away, so I probably wouldn’t want to commute that every day,” Duran said. “And I didn’t want to bring a car because that’s also very expensive, too.”
Aside from benefiting financially, Institutional Research has shown that living on campus is linked to academic success, reporting that over half of students living on campus made the dean’s list in 2022 and 2023.
Kaila Gooch, a first-year business marketing student, said her academic experience would have been very different this semester if she had decided to stay in Sacramento and commute to school instead of living in West Grove Commons.
“It just makes it easier for me to go to class,” Gooch said. “I wake up and want to go because I’m already on campus.”
SFSU President Lynn Mahoney said guaranteeing housing to new students for their first year is a good step forward toward a long-term goal.
“My dream is to be able to say to a student who comes from outside the region, ‘We can guarantee you two years of housing,’” said Mahoney in an interview with Golden Gate Xpress. “We’re not there yet. We’re close.”
