SASHA BUKHTIYAROVA / CONTRIBUTOR

Alongside the stress of finals season, a new challenge has arisen for some USD upperclassmen: finding a place to live. A large, incoming first-year class, coupled with changes in housing availability have left USD upperclassmen with limited housing options for the coming academic year. 

Lissette Martinez, senior director of Media Relations for USD, explained the size of the incoming class and the high housing demand for the 2024-2025 academic year. 

“We are expecting a freshman class of 1,250 first-year students, and 350 new transfers for the fall of 2024,” Martinez stated. “Of those first-year and transfer students, about 95% will require housing, and all will be assigned.”

The incoming first-year class is the second largest class in the past decade for USD, according to the university’s most recently released Common Data Sets. The size is second only to 2018, with 1,310 first-year, first-time students, and closely followed by last year 2023, which had 1,245 first-year, first-time students. Due to the two-year on-campus residency requirement, this means that two of the three largest first-year classes in the past decade of USD’s admittance will be required to live on campus next year. 

This predicament has arisen amid the reconstruction of the University Terrace Apartments (UTAs), traditionally used to house upperclassmen students. The UTAs were composed of 38 apartments, housing up to four people each. With their closure, 152 spots for upperclassmen are now unavailable. 

Martinez expressed that supplementing upperclassmen housing with additional housing options elsewhere is already underway for USD.

“Those units [the UTAs] have not been occupied since August of 2023. To compensate for that, the University expanded its leasing units at Pacific Ridge [Apartments] and in addition has added 300 additional units to the inventory.” 

All      of these factors have culminated in some upperclassmen students having issues with locking down their housing for the next school year, despite submitting their applications before the housing application deadline. Rising junior, Kaziah  Fletcher did not have a difficult time with housing, until she    applied for her junior year.

 “I completely understand that freshmen and sophomores have priority. But they [USD] also let us know that as   rising juniors and rising    seniors that   if we completed  the  housing application prior to their deadline, that we would have housing and a lot of people I know did not get housing, like not even a room to select, which I thought was very odd.” 

The    USD   Housing   Application provides additional housing information for upperclassmen. According to the form, “If you do not fall under the two-year residency requirement … housing  is limited, and we encourage  you to apply as soon as you are able, as our office will process/approve applications based on when they are submitted. We do expect to have housing    for all students that apply by the March 4 deadline.” 

Additionally, the University website does state on the “Upper Division and Transfer Info” page that “Transfer/upper division housing is limited and not guaranteed for students that are not a part of the two-year residency requirement.” 

Fletcher was scheduled to select housing on the first day, in the third time slot, yet was not able to get a room with her desired housing group.

“We all had to go with randoms. Like, I’m literally just going to double with nobody I know,” Fletcher said.  

Some students remain on the waitlist, in limbo until July, awaiting updates    on      their housing situation. Others, like Fletcher, await hearing back on being able to switch rooms or roommates.

 “I feel like they need to have a better system on assigning housing,” Fletcher voiced. 

USD rising junior Briana Gonzalez-Labastida was not as lucky with her housing applications   for     the  next semester. Gonzalez-Labastida was unable to submit her housing application. 

Students who did not register in time like Gonzalez-Labastida, were added to the housing interest list. In an email sent to Gonzalez-Labastida on April 11, USD Housing Director Brandon McCreary expressed concern about the likelihood of getting off of the interest list. “We received an overwhelming number of applications,” he stated. “So [for] students that did not submit an application on-time,   it is going to be very difficult to offer something to [them].” 

According to emails sent to those on  the  interest list, students were originally told that they would find out in June or July if their on-campus housing was confirmed. Now, those hoping to live on-campus will hear back at some point during July,   according to a recent update  sent to students on the list. 

The state of housing for the 2024-25 school year has elicited emotional responses in students and parents alike. USD junior Lily Olson works  in  housing and elaborated on  how the entire process   has      been   impacting those within housing administration. 

“We have a lot of people really angry [because of the date being pushed to July], like parents telling us ‘they’ll drive down’ angry,” Olson explained. 

Gonzalez-Labastida felt more discouraged than angry. “Right now as juniors, we’re kind of just in this awkward position where it feels like everyone other than us is being prioritized,” she said. 

Students  choose their housing using the USD Housing Portal. According   to   the  portal disclaimer,  seniors  choose housing first with their roommate groups, then juniors, followed by rising  sophomores.    Some housing, like the Alcalá Vista Apartments, is designated specifically for second-years, limiting the options for upperclassmen hoping to live on-campus. 

This system leaves juniors trying to live on-campus disadvantaged, in a highly competitive housing environment.    Fletcher continued, “I know a lot of rising juniors who were paired with seniors, so they got priority,” Fletcher continued.  

This “priority” was due to the person with the earliest time slot in a roommate group being able to select rooms for everyone in their group, according to the USD website. Juniors that paired with seniors were able to be  placed in student housing during the seniors’  registration  time   slot. 

If USD continues increasing first-year class size, housing issues like these could become more apparent, depending on how the University plans to accommodate the growth as students must compete for prime housing selection slots, in a highly competitive field.  For further inquiries on housing next year, questions can be sent to housing@sandiego.edu. 

Students are guaranteed on-campus housing their first two years, but after the requirement ends, many students struggle to get their desired housing.  Emma Kate-Squires/The USD Vista