It’s the time of year where many students begin the long process of searching for housing for the upcoming school year. Students in certain colleges and groups get guaranteed spots in Poly Canyon Village (PCV) or Cerro Vista for their second year at Cal Poly as part of the two-year housing program, but there are mixed reactions to this program. In fact, housing in and around Cal Poly is a major concern for most students.
20 current Cal Poly students of a variety of years and majors offered their housing opinions through a survey. First, they detailed their experiences and opinions regarding the two-year housing program.
According to Cal Poly’s website, the two-year housing program started because “[students who live on campus] are more connected to the community at large, including support resources and services. In turn, this better supports their retention and academic progress.” Each year, another College or group is added to the program. Eventually, the idea is that all Cal Poly students will have a second year housing requirement. Currently, students in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED), the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES), the College of Engineering (CENG), Cal Poly Scholars, and student athletes are all required to live on campus for their second year. For the 2023-24 school year, TRIO students will also be required to live on campus for their second year. However, despite all of these students being added to the two-year requirement, no new on-campus housing is being built at this time. This leaves even less room for the students who aren’t in one of these required groups, but still want to live on campus for their second year. If Cal Poly is insistent on implementing this second year housing program, they need to start by building more on-campus housing.
Of those students surveyed, 60% said that they did not like the second year housing program. This includes those who are a part of the program. One second year aerospace engineering student, who was required to live on campus for his second year due to his major, said that he wouldn’t have chosen to live on campus this year if he didn’t have to, saying “PCV is further from campus than many off-campus options and is more expensive.” On the other hand, some students wanted to live on campus for another year, but missed out on the opportunity because their major was not part of the second-year housing program. Ashley Bartlett, a second year child development major, said, “I wanted to live on campus my second year, so I entered the lottery to get a spot. But there were only 500 spots available and I did not get one. For me, it was financially the smart thing to do to live on campus, and more accessible for me in my academics. However, with the new program, I was not able to do so even though I wanted to.” Third year English major Paige Clayton shared how living on campus for her second year would have helped her after the pandemic: “…I did not get the real dorm experience my first year of college. I lived in a Yak dorm alone for only the last quarter. With Covid concerns starting to subside as I entered my second year, housing became a nightmare. Housing was all booked up before I even got a chance to request a spot.”
Bartlett perfectly summarized students’ overall consensus on the second year housing program: “I truly believe that Cal Poly should let the students who wish to live on campus their second year have access to that opportunity despite their major. Those who do not want to live on campus should not have to again, no matter what their major is.”
Of those surveyed, the majority of students had a mostly positive experience living on campus, either in a dorm, apartment, or both. Roughly 25% of students were very satisfied with the on-campus living conditions and about 60% were somewhat satisfied. However, this does not apply to every student, and even those who had a mostly positive experience still had issues. In the survey, students were provided a list of common problems and were instructed to select which, if any, they encountered while living on campus. The most selected issues were: messy common areas, noise, slow maintenance response time to broken utilities, WiFi problems, and a lack of enough washers/dryers. Four people said they had experienced none of the issues.
Those not living on campus have to go through the grueling process of finding an off-campus house or apartment. Of the 14 people who reported they had experience looking for off-campus housing, 10 of them said they found the process to be difficult and stressful.
13 of those surveyed have experience living off-campus. They cited proximity to campus/location, price, safety, and parking as being the main factors they consider when looking for off-campus housing. Ironically, these were also some of the main issues students encountered while living off campus. Specifically, this included expensive rent, lack of on-campus parking spaces, lack of parking spaces at place of residence, and having to go to a laundromat/pay for laundry. Only three people said they had experienced none of the issues. The average size of an apartment in San Luis Obispo (SLO) is 787 square feet. The average rent for an apartment of this size in SLO is $2,586 per month. However, the closer a residence is to the Cal Poly campus, the more the price tends to increase, meaning that students have to pay more to have easier access to school. With on-campus parking being a notorious problem at Cal Poly, living near a bus stop or within walking distance to campus is a must for many students.
A second year kinesiology student summed it up well: “My main issue with on campus housing is the lack of spaces they have for students. They do not provide enough spots for [students] wanting to live on campus and, given the limited options and difficulty finding off campus housing, it’s hard to find housing at all after the first year.”