2024-111 California Colleges
California’s Systems of Public Higher Education Could Better Address Student Housing Needs
Published: October 14, 2025
Audit Recommendations Disclosure
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor’s assessment of auditee’s response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations to the Legislature
Recommendation 1
If it determines that California’s public higher education systems should assume a stronger oversight role over their respective campuses in planning campus housing to ensure their students’ housing needs are met, the Legislature should clarify state law to declare its intent that the system offices—the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office—should assume a stronger oversight role in planning campus housing and identify the appropriate responsibilities for systemwide oversight.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendation 2
If it determines that California’s public higher education systems should assume a stronger oversight role over their respective campuses in planning campus housing to ensure their students’ housing needs are met, the Legislature should require the system offices to each develop and implement a process to biennially assess the unmet demand for campus housing across their respective campuses. Specifically, the Legislature could require systems to obtain relevant information through multiple means, such as administering surveys to their students, performing market demand studies, and evaluating existing student housing databases. To the extent additional staff or resources are needed to complete this periodic assessment, the Legislature should consider appropriating funding to the systems for this effort.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendation 3
If it determines that California’s public higher education systems should assume a stronger oversight role over their respective campuses in planning campus housing to ensure their students’ housing needs are met, the Legislature should establish an intersegmental student housing working group composed of representatives from the three system offices. The working group should utilize the systems’ assessment of unmet demand and further analyze systemwide, regional, and campus-specific student housing needs. The Legislature could also direct the working group to develop a statewide plan that identifies opportunities for intersegmental collaboration to build campus housing and that informs future state funding considerations.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendation 4
To ensure that housing projects funded by the Grant Program comply with the statutory requirements for the life of the Grant Program-funded facilities, the Legislature should amend the Grant Program to require the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office to report, as part of their capital outlay reporting requirements, on the public benefit provided by their projects—including the number of bedspaces and rents for students with low incomes—for the life of these facilities.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendation 5
If the Legislature finds that enabling the systems to request changes to their Grant Program projects does not jeopardize the integrity of the Grant Program, it should amend state law to establish a process for the UC Office of the President and the CSU Office of the Chancellor to request and receive authorization for significant changes to authorized Grant Program projects. This process should, at a minimum, require systems to submit revised applications demonstrating that proposed project changes comply with statutory requirements, such as ensuring a long-term commitment to affordability and supporting public benefit.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendations to UC Office of the President
Recommendation 6
To ensure that their campuses comply with Grant Program requirements to provide the promised affordable beds or rents for the lifetime of the facilities, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each establish a policy and process by March 2026 to ensure that beds or rents remain affordable for the life of each campus housing project constructed using Grant Program funding.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendation 7
To ensure that prospective students and their families have access to accurate and reliable information so they can make informed financial decisions about attending college, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each establish procedures by March 2026 to regularly monitor their respective campuses’ compliance with applicable laws relating to the reporting of cost-of-attendance information, such as the cost of housing and meal plans, and direct campuses to correct any disclosures that are incomplete or inaccurate.
Agency response status:
Pending
To ensure that students can access accurate information online about the available housing assistance services, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each develop a policy by March 2026 that requires its respective campuses to post on their websites key information about any active housing assistance programs and to update at the start of each semester or quarter the following elements of that information:
- Instructions on how to apply for assistance.
- A description of the housing assistance offering.
- Program eligibility criteria.
Agency response status:
Pending
Recommendations to CSU Chancellor’s Office
To ensure that their campuses comply with Grant Program requirements to provide the promised affordable beds or rents for the lifetime of the facilities, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each establish a policy and process by March 2026 to ensure that beds or rents remain affordable for the life of each campus housing project constructed using Grant Program funding.
Recommendation 10
To ensure that prospective students and their families have access to accurate and reliable information so they can make informed financial decisions about attending college, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each establish procedures by March 2026 to regularly monitor their respective campuses’ compliance with applicable laws relating to the reporting of cost-of-attendance information, such as the cost of housing and meal plans, and direct campuses to correct any disclosures that are incomplete or inaccurate.
To ensure that students can access accurate information online about the available housing assistance services, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each develop a policy by March 2026 that requires its respective campuses to post on their websites key information about any active housing assistance programs and to update at the start of each semester or quarter the following elements of that information:
- A description of the housing assistance offering.
- Program eligibility criteria.
- Instructions on how to apply for assistance.
Recommendations to CCC Chancellor’s Office
To ensure that their campuses comply with Grant Program requirements to provide the promised affordable beds or rents for the lifetime of the facilities, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each establish a policy and process by March 2026 to ensure that beds or rents remain affordable for the life of each campus housing project constructed using Grant Program funding.
To ensure that prospective students and their families have access to accurate and reliable information so they can make informed financial decisions about attending college, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each establish procedures by March 2026 to regularly monitor their respective campuses’ compliance with applicable laws relating to the reporting of cost-of-attendance information, such as the cost of housing and meal plans, and direct campuses to correct any disclosures that are incomplete or inaccurate.
To ensure that students can access accurate information online about the available housing assistance services, the UC Office of the President, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office should each develop a policy by March 2026 that requires its respective campuses to post on their websites key information about any active housing assistance programs and to update at the start of each semester or quarter the following elements of that information:
- A description of the housing assistance offering.
- Program eligibility criteria.
- Instructions on how to apply for assistance.
Recommendations to CSU Chancellor’s Office
To ensure that it creates a student housing plan that comprehensively assesses its projected student housing needs by campus, the CSU Office of the Chancellor should establish a systemwide committee by March 2026 that includes campus and system representatives from key departments such as housing, financial aid, and capital planning and construction. This committee should analyze existing research and student housing information including, but not limited to, enrollment trends and projections, graduation data, and affordability studies to focus system efforts on campuses with the most need for campus housing.
To ensure that it creates a student housing plan that comprehensively assesses its projected student housing needs by campus, the CSU Office of the Chancellor should establish a systemwide committee by March 2026 that includes campus and system representatives from key departments such as housing, financial aid, and capital planning and construction. This committee should develop a more sophisticated survey tool to identify the number of students in need of housing who were not accommodated on campus because the campus lacked capacity or rents were too high.
To ensure that it creates a student housing plan that comprehensively assesses its projected student housing needs by campus, the CSU Office of the Chancellor should establish a systemwide committee by March 2026 that includes campus and system representatives from key departments such as housing, financial aid, and capital planning and construction. This committee should examine the system’s student housing needs assessment in its student housing plan for methodological improvements, including incorporating information from the analyses conducted by the committee.
To comply with the requirements of the Grant Program, the CSU Office of the Chancellor should refrain from spending Grant Program funding on any projects that have not been submitted to or approved by the Legislature, including the Spartan Village project at San José State.
