Student Housing Q&A
The Request for Proposals for the Affordable Student Housing Grant, per conditions provided in AB/SB 169 and Ed Code Section 17201, was issued on Oct. 25, 2021. College of the Canyons was one of 81 grant applications submitted. There were nine colleges approved initially for a construction grant. None were in L.A. County. COC, along with five other colleges, successfully lobbied to bring this oversight to the state’s attention. Compton College and College of the Canyons were then selected to also receive a construction grant.
Colleges that received the grant are:
- Compton College – $80,389,00
- Bakersfield Community College – $60,246,000
- Lake Tahoe Community College – $39,369,000
- Consumnes River College – $44,144,000
- Napa Valley College – $31,000,000
- College of the Canyons – $61,858,000
- Sierra College – $80,497,000
- College of the Siskiyous – $32,613,000
- Santa Rosa Junior College – $15,000,000
- Fresno City College – $34,080,000
- Ventura College – $62,923,000
| College | Beds | Year Opened |
| Coast Community College | 800 | 2020 |
| Feather River College | 238 | 1970s |
| Cerro Coso College, Eastern Sierra College Center | 50 | 2008 |
| Lassen Community College | 108 | 1966 |
| College of the Redwoods | 150 | |
| Shasta College | 126 | 1967 |
| Sierra College | 120 | 1965 |
| College of Siskiyous | 121 | 1960s |
| Reedley College | 140 | 1967 |
| Taft College | 150 | 1965 |
| West Hills, Coalinga | 170 | 1959 |
| Columbia College | 196 | |
| Santa Rosa Junior College | 352 | Fall 2023 |
The state experienced a significant budget shortfall. To address that shortfall, it pulled back the grant funding from college districts which had received awards and opted to use borrowed funds in the form of lease revenue bonds instead.
Santa Rosa College and Napa Valley College were removed from the lease-revenue bonds as they had already spent their funds. They were already completing new student housing and used the funds to complete their projects and allocate low-income units in their current buildings.
- Lake Tahoe College and Sierra College, which already have student housing on their campuses, are moving forward with construction of Affordable Student Housing projects.
- On a recent call with the Department of Finance, Compton College and Fresno City College asked for permission to descope their projects.
The state’s Department of Finance (DOF) has stated they want colleges to return the money now so they can release the lease revenue bonds.
The proforma that was created is a dynamic form. We can put in different amounts and types of rooms, and it will calculate the revenue and expenses for multiple scenarios.
This was done with multiple variations, and it showed that a reduction in the number of beds would cause a decrease in net income to the District. For example, if we reduced the beds from 209 to 150, the net income after reserve capitalization would be estimated at -$372,332. The District would need to pay, from its General Fund, the additional $372K in year one and that would increase year after year. If the District built 180 beds, the District would have a net revenue of -$177,675 in the first year, with the cost to the District projected to increase at least 3 percent annually in the following years.
We did not have the architects redraw the building plans with different specifications as that would have led to unnecessary expenses when we could already see that building the project with fewer beds was financially not feasible.
The student housing project building cost is not being covered by the grant and interest. Currently the expenses that have been incurred for Student Housing are roughly $1.5M, which the college has paid from interest since it cannot spend the $61.8M until the lease revenue bonds are finalized. The interest received to date and the $61.8M will not cover the full cost of the current building.
As outlined in the presentation to the Board of Trustees at their August 14 meeting, there will be roughly $3.4M in interest available at the end of this year. All expenses for the project have been charged to the interest up until now. As of the presentation in August, the total expended to date was roughly $1.5M. The college has requested final bills from all vendors so it can have all costs associated with housing charged to the interest. That would leave just under $2M of interest remaining.
The $61.8M must be returned to the state in exchange for the lease revenue bonds. We would not have the $61.8M sitting in the bank continuing to earn interest. If we decided to move forward with student housing, we would be required to return the $61.8M, and then the State Public Works would provide funding to the State Chancellor’s office, which would give us funding when we have project expenses to pay.
Finally, construction would cost at least $5M more than the amount of the grant. The district must cover that funding gap from its general fund.
Of course, the longer it takes to start construction, the higher those costs will go. Construction cannot start on the project for 8-10 months until after a water line running under the project
site has been moved and building plans have been approved by the State Public Works and Department of the State Architect. Construction costs continue to increase, so we need to ensure we have enough money beyond the $5M if required. The increase in construction costs is usually estimated at 8 percent to 10 percent per year.
We have also heard from the community that we need to include them in the conversation. That has never been done to this point. We would need to have town halls, attend HOA meetings, etc. before moving forward with the building. None of those steps were taken before applying for and receiving the housing grant.
- At the October 9 board meeting, staff shared many next steps for how the college can address students’ affordable housing needs.
- Discussions have been taking place between our Basic Needs Center and CalArts on how they handle student housing. During those conversations, we learned they have agreements with local apartment buildings for their students to rent apartments. We would like to set up similar agreements for our students. We also discussed with them the new dorms they are building.
- The College has been part of the Santa Clarita Homelessness Taskforce for many years. We continue to partner with them.
- The College’s Basic Needs Center has provided emergency grants for students in need of housing. We have also developed a rapid rehousing program where we work with students who need housing immediately and continue to work with them to find permanent housing.
- We now provide food, social services, clothing, school supplies, laundry services, and more for our students in need through our Basic Needs Center.We have hired a housing specialist in our Basic Needs Center to help students navigate ways to find housing through Bridge to Home, The Village, and other resources throughout our service areas.The Vice President of Student Services, in coordination with the Associated Student Government, is reestablishing the Homelessness Taskforce on campus to address affordable student housing.
The College has many members on the Santa Clarita Housing Taskforce. Patty Robinson was a founding member from College of the Canyons. Currently, Sarah Cox and Mike Joslin serve as part of the committee. We have discussed Housing with the committee as well as have discussed housing in meetings with the city. Working with the Housing Taskforce, we were able to secure $15,000 to conduct a Housing Feasibility Study.
Currently, there have been no discussions regarding the City or County taking on the ongoing operational costs of the student housing.
When the college submitted the grant proposal, it estimated the rental cost to be $800 to $1100 per room. This was based on the requirement that the rent must be set at 30% of 50% of the area median income for a single-room occupancy unit type.
The actual cost would be set on the median income for a single-occupancy room for the year the building opened. The rate changes every year.
The College conducted a Student Housing Feasibility Study in the Fall 2021 and a Basic Needs Survey in 2019. The College also has a Housing Taskforce that met in October 2021 for a Housing Feasibility Study kick off meeting and again in October 2022 to review the draft completion of the feasibility study. Housing has been an on-going discussion regarding the basic need of our students.
According to the Housing Grant, any units built with the grant funding, must adhere to the regulations of the grant:
- Students must be full time
- Students must low-income
- Pell grant financial aid under the Pall Grant Program
- Cal Grant
- Exempt from paying nonresident tuition under Education Code 68130.5 through meeting California Dream Act income criteria requirements. (AB 540)
- Receiving fee waiver from California community colleges (California College Promise Grant – formerly BOG Waiver)
No. The facility is limited to student use only.
Yes, student housing was discussed multiple times in college committees and meetings:
- The Housing Taskforce met in October 2021 to kick off the Housing Feasibility Study and again in October 2022 to review the draft outcomes of the Study.
- The Housing grant was presented at the Executive Cabinet webinar in December 2021.
- The Housing Feasibility Study was presented to Executive Cabinet in August 2022
- The Basic Needs Survey was conducted in 2019 and distributed across campus.
- We will continue our discussions across campus as we gather more information. A user group will be formed to start working with the drawings.
- Executive Cabinet webinars
- Statewide webinars
- In the Housing Feasibility Study, of the 1050 students surveyed, 7% reported being housing insecure (roughly 74 students).
- In the College of the Canyons Basic Needs Survey (2019), of the 2,533 students surveyed, 5.1% of students self-identified as being homeless (roughly 128 students), 10.8% reported living in non-traditional locations (defined on page 10, roughly 272 students).
- In the Basic Needs Survey (2019), demographics of the students who identified as homeless are outlined.
| Ethnicity | Homeless Respondents (N=127) | Gender | Homeless Respondents (N=127) |
| White | 30.7% | Male | 38.6% |
| Latinx | 29.1% | Female | 55.9% |
| Black/African American | 6.3% | Non-Binary | 3.9% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 6.3% | Other | 1.6% |
| Native American/Alaskan | 0.8% | ||
| Filipinx | 1.6% | 1967 | |
| Other Non-White | 0.8% | 1965 | |
| Unknown | 4.7% | 1960s | |
| Multiracial | 19.7% | 1967 |
Currently the District has expended approximately $1.5 Million on planning and preparing for Student Housing. Those costs have been paid for from the $3.4 Million of interest earnings the District has received from the $61.8 Million of student housing money. The breakdown of expenses to date is as follows:
| Total | $1,442,879 |
| Costs to Date Associated with the Student Housing | Dollar Amount |
| Westburg White (Architecture and Water Line) | $1,268,025 |
| CW Driver (Building Consultant) | $74,000 |
| Legal | $5,320 |
| Subsurface Designs | $10,345 |
| Student Housing Consultant | $25,963 |
| CEQA | $25,065 |
| SCV Water | $10,000 |