SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Affordable housing for students will soon be arriving at San Diego City College. City leaders and college staff grabbed their shovels to break ground on a new project that will benefit hundreds of students facing housing insecurity.
“Most of our students, upwards of 90 percent are on some form of financial aid which shows that they are coming from communities where they are coming to college to access above livable wage careers,” San Diego City College President Ricky Shabazz said.
City College is able to receive funding from the state’s Affordable Student Housing Program. Shabazz says rent will range anywhere from $800 to $1,000. The future on-campus apartments are meant to offer relief for students in need.
“People who have served our country in the military, people who have been in the foster care system, people who are coming out of the justice impacted system,” Shabazz said.
Kimberly Kritzer is a former student at San Diego City College, she commuted from Mira mesa because it was not affordable to live near campus. Kritzer says, this new project would've been transformative to have during her time at City College.
"I could've been closer to classmates or I could've accessed even more resources,” Kritzer said.
Many students commute from south-east San Diego to campus because of the high cost of housing in the area. San Diego City College Academic Senate President and Faculty member María-José Zeledón-Pérez says, students are also traveling from Tijuana to San Diego.
“I have students who will spend three hours trying to cross the border back and forth and imagine when COVID was happening, that was six hours back and forth and they would still come,” Zeledón-Pérez said.
During the groundbreaking event, college leaders emphasized the importance of meeting the basic needs of students to set them up for success.
“To having a home, to having food, to having friends, but most importantly to having community,” Zeledón-Pérez said.
The project will cost about $280 million dollars, its expected to open in the fall of 2028 or sooner.
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