SOLVING CALIFORNIA'S STUDENT HOUSING CRISIS
We are a collective of youth activists and higher education advocacy organizations across California fighting for abundant, accessible, and affordable student housing opportunities.
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Partner Organizations and Affiliates Network
UC Student Association
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UC Davis College Democrats
UC San Diego ASUCSD Housing Commission
ASUC Housing Commission
Sonoma State Young Democrats
Urban Studies Student Associtation UC Irvine
College of the Sequoias Democrats
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California College Democrats
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UC Santa Barbara College Democrats
University Housing Rights Organization at UC Berkeley
Young Democrats Club at Saddleback College
SDSU Social Action Committee
UC Irvine College Democrats
Cal Berkeley Habitat for Humanity
Generation Up
UC Santa Barbara Youth Bridge Housing
Student Homeless Alliance at San Jose State University
Housing, Infrastructure, and Transit Student Coalition at UC Merced
College of the Desert Social Justice Club
Cal Berkeley Democrats
Trojans for More Housing
Student Homes in the News
A story from EdSource recently provided an overview of several bills sponsored by Student Homes to make it easier to develop affordable student housing across the state. "If you walk around Westwood, you see lots of one-story commercial spaces and restaurants,” said Kate Rodgers, Co-Chair of the Coalition and recent UCLA graduate. “And for a housing nerd like myself, I can’t really help but think, ‘What if this was all mixed use?’”
A recent article from StreetsBlog Cal highlighted the effort to enable more housing at California Community Colleges with AB 648, and included a quote from Student Homes Co-Chair, Kate Rodgers. “For far too long, thousands of California’s Community College students have been coming into class after having slept in their car, in a shelter, or on the street,” said Kate. "AB 648 will change that."
The Voice of San Diego explored the impact of AB 357, a Student Homes Coalition sponsored bill to streamline housing at coastal universities, in a recent story. “By returning the power to universities, we’re hoping to prevent delays," said Student Homes Co-Chair, Ryan Lenney.
A recent story from SFGate discussed the ongoing work to expand safe parking programs in California. "We’ve heard from students who are sleeping in their cars that one of the hardest things is having a police officer come up and bang on their window in the middle of night and tell them to leave, and then have to wake up at 9 in the morning and go to class,” said Ryan Lenney, Student Homes Co-Chair. “I mean, to try and imagine the mental toll that that takes on a student is impossible.”
Kate Rodgers, Co-Chair of Student Homes, recently joined WAHN Podcast host, Angie Truitt, to discuss student housing policy issues in California. "If you delay a student housing project and the university has been required by the state legislature to grow its population... you have an entire new class of incoming freshman that doesn't have housing," said Kate.
Student Homes Coalition Co-Chairs Kate Rodgers and Ryan Lenney recently spoke with Kent He, host of the Affordable Housing and Real Estate Investing Podcast, about the need for more student housing development on and off-campus. "We need more housing units, which is why we are pursing policies like AB 893, which will upzone land around universities. We've talked to university campuses and they want to help their students... we have to give them the tools to do so." said Kate.
Alex Schafran, host of the "Housing After Dark" podcast, recently spoke with Student Homes Coalition Co-Chairs Kate Rodgers and Ryan Lenney about the Coalition's current policy agenda. "When we talk about wanting to expand access to higher education... increasing housing development and trying to decrease housing costs has to be a part of that conversation," said Ryan.
The Daily Californian covered the Student Homes Coalition's 2025 legislative slate reveal, including a quote from the Coalition's Co-Chair Kate Rodgers: "One student living in their car, that’s a tragedy, but thousands is a policy failure. Students from across the state, including those that are behind me today, have been begging for relief from homelessness and housing insecurity."
