Bay Area Community Colleges to Build Housing

A soaring Bay Area housing market fueled by an artificial intelligence boom and luxury home sales has left out one overlooked group: community college students.

Despite stock market jitters and economic instability, Bay Area housing remains red-hot, especially in Silicon Valley, the San Jose Mercury News and SFGate reported.

Home prices have skyrocketed, with median values reaching $4.2 million in Palo Alto and $5.7 million in Los Altos. Buyers, many flush with tech wealth, face fierce bidding wars, with San Jose leading the nation with 67 percent of homes selling over asking price, according to Redfin.

But while high-end real estate thrives, the affordable housing crisis deepens for students attending local community colleges.

Nearly half of California’s community college students face housing insecurity, with a quarter experiencing homelessness. Of the state’s 116 community colleges, only 12 offer on-campus housing, none of them in the Bay Area.

This gap has left students like Abdullah Enes Kut, a De Anza College international student, vulnerable to rental scams and forced into a difficult housing search in one of the nation’s priciest regions.

Colleges are starting to respond.

Foothill-De Anza Community College District is converting a 94-unit apartment building in Cupertino into affordable student housing, aiming to open 332 beds by fall.

San Mateo Community College District is building a 316-bed apartment complex slated to open in 2027, while Ohlone College in Fremont has plans for more than 500 beds by 2028.

Such plans, though promising, are dwarfed by need and hindered by limited funding and high construction costs.

State programs, such as the $2 billion Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program, have provided some relief, but funding remains highly competitive. The Peralta Community College District, serving students in Oakland and Berkeley, had its proposal rejected in 2023, halting plans for a 306-bed dorm.

For students like Andrew Siegler, who was once homeless while attending De Anza, stable housing proved life changing. After securing housing in San Jose, he went from failing courses to preparing for graduation with a 3.75 GPA.

As luxury homes fly off the market and tech-fueled affluence grows, the Bay Area’s student housing shortfall serves as a stark reminder: not everyone benefits from the boom.

— Dana Bartholomew