CSUN to Try Housing Lottery

Students living in Cal State Northridge dormitories will not be guaranteed a room next fall, when the university will begin using a lottery to assign campus living space, officials said Monday.

The change reflects a growing demand for dorm rooms among new students, the officials said. The lottery will give incoming students a more proportional share of the campus’ 1,740 dorm beds.

That means about 150 of the 700 students returning in the fall could end up without a room, and possibly face steeper rents.

The news angered students such as junior Kacey Borders, who has lived in the dorms since 2000.

“It’s not fair,” said Borders, 20. “All of a sudden I have to worry about where I am going to live next year. That’s all I’ve been thinking about since class started. I can’t even focus on school.”

The glut in CSUN dorm applications mirrors a housing crunch at several other Cal State campuses, which traditionally have been commuter schools.

About 10% of students at the 23 Cal State campuses live in dorms, according to system spokeswoman Colleen Bentley-Adler. Systemwide enrollment has increased about 45,000 since 1997 to nearly 389,000. Several campuses plan to build more dorms, Bentley-Adler said.

At CSUN, enrollment fell after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, but has climbed steadily in recent years. It is now 31,450, up from 27,650 in 1997.

Dorm applications exceed the number of rooms by 500 students, said Tim Trevan, director of CSUN’s residence program.

“It evens the playing field,” Trevan said of the lottery. “In the past, we weren’t able to fill the dorms. Now we’re filling them and growing every year.”

Monthly rents for CSUN dorm apartments are $360 per student for two bedrooms and $600 for one bedroom.

Trevan said his department will help find off-campus apartments for students left out by the lottery. The university has no plans to build more rooms, but that could change if the demand persists, he added.

David Bellamy, a junior, said he cannot afford to live off campus.

“The students who live here already really need to live here,” said the 22-year-old video production major. “Northridge students are not wealthy students.”

The lottery will reserve 550 spaces for returning students, and 1,190 for incoming students.

Dorm policies vary among Cal State campuses. At San Diego State, returning students are given first choice of dorm spaces, said Pat Kroncky, residence director. She said nearly all the 800 students who applied unsuccessfully were new to the campus.

At Cal State Fullerton, there is a dorm waiting list of 400 students. Most returning students have no trouble getting one of the 385 spaces, and the campus will add 440 spaces next year, according to Adrienne Franklin of the campus housing office.