The Associated Students’ Office of Food & Housing Resources announced that four Marriott hotel locations will provide additional student housing for the upcoming academic school year 2021-2022. This announcement comes in the midst of a local Housing shortageas thousands of UC San Diego students battle to secure off-campus accommodation.
the Hotels, all within a 6 mile radius of UCSD, allow students to book rooms at discounted rates, with the lowest rates applying when the student stays for at least 90 consecutive days. Currently, prices to stay in a king-size studio with sofa bed for the entire fall quarter of 2021 are around $ 120 per night, making a total of over $ 12,000 (including taxes and fees).
The UCSD Guardian has reached out to the UCSD administration to inquire about their estimates of how many students are planning to temporarily stay at the Marriott.
“Over the past week, the hotel has received a large number of calls and emails from students and parents,” said Leslie Sepuka, assistant director of university communications. “Our understanding is that most [students] wait to see if you can
When asked whether the administration would seek other ways to increase housing capacity, Sepuka said no further steps would be taken.
“The university has further reduced the waiting list for apartments and makes 785” [on-campus] Housing offers for students in the summer, ”said Sepuka.
This housing option was announced on social media after the student’s weeks Petitions Calling campus officials to take action on the housing shortage.
The current housing shortage can be explained by the steadily increasing enrollment at UCSD. A significant number of students have enrolled over the past three years, with the number increasing by 2,174 in 2018, 835 in 2019 and 850 in 2020.
There is no evidence that the number of enrollments is slowing. Cecilia V. Estolano, Chair of the University of California’s Board of Regents, stated in a recent statement interview with the Los Angeles Times that one of the UC’s top priorities is to increase enrollment.
COVID-19 logs also make it difficult for students to purchase accommodation on campus. UCSD Housing Dining Hospitality currently not Room occupancy with triple occupancythat roughly eliminated 2,100 Residential places on campus.
As more students look for off-campus accommodation, rental prices in La Jolla have soared to an all-time high. Corresponding Rent a café, La Jolla rents are up 14 percent year over year to an average of $ 2,665. This amount is above average in both San Diego and Los Angeles.
The Marriott hotel housing is one of UCSD’s first attempts to alleviate the ongoing housing shortage. In a social media post, the AS Office of Food & Housing Resources confirmed that this option may not be practical for many students:
“The AS Office of Food & Housing Resources recognizes that this option may not be feasible for all students, but given the urgent lack of accommodation in general, the Basic Needs team has been working to start this program first,” it says the explanation. “We are constantly looking for possible solutions to the housing crisis and hope that this accommodation can help some students.”
Due to the lack of suitable accommodation, many students facing immense competition to find accommodation for the coming year have stated that despite the additional cost, they would consider staying at the Marriott hotels.
David Imig, a junior from Thurgood Marshall College, shared his experience with the UCSD Guardian of looking for an apartment and the grueling process.
“My experience was immensely stressful. I started looking at the beginning of June. Every day that summer I got up and checked Zillow and Apartments.com… ”Imig said. “When listings were published, they were [would] I already have hundreds of contacts and dozens of applications by the time I saw them. It felt like no matter what I did and no matter how qualified I was, my application would inevitably be ignored as every other applicant was just as good, if not better. “
Imig filed more than 30 applications, saying he began offering brokers to pay 12 months’ rent upfront and offering to pay above the asking price.
“I know it’s a privilege to be able to bid upstairs [the] Asking price and that could not be done by many other students, ”added Imig. “I sympathize with everyone who has been stressed by this crisis.”
Students interested in checking rates or booking rooms with Marriott please visit their website. Students who need help finding off-campus accommodation are encouraged to contact the Center for Basic Needs.
Photo courtesy Marriott Bonvoy
