San Jose State was left out of a sizable sum of state funding for affordable housing this fall.
The university failed to meet the requirements for a portion of a $1.4 billion state housing grant, which was allocated to 26 California colleges, according to a July 21 article by San Jose Spotlight.
SJSU was also one of the few colleges in the Bay Area that didn’t receive the grant, according to a July 8 CalMatters article.
University of California (UC), Santa Cruz, was awarded $89 million, UC Berkeley was given $100 million and San Francisco State received a little more than $116 million, according to the CalMatters article.
Michelle Smith McDonald, SJSU senior director of media relations, said the qualifications for the funding included a specific time frame for an affordable housing project to commence.
“San Jose State University submitted a student housing project for consideration, but the size of the project and projected building start date did not meet the criteria for state funding in this round,” Smith McDonald said. “Those who were funded submitted specific timelines.”
She said Gov. Gavin Newsom and other legislators indicated that more student housing construction dollars will appear in future state budgets.
Meanwhile, Smith McDonald said SJSU is working with the California State University Chancellor’s Office to ensure the university is “positioned” for the potential next round of funding for housing. The state included an even more specific set of criteria for SJSU to qualify for the grant.
Smith McDonald said the State Department of Finance selected construction projects based on three factors: whether it was intersegmental, the state funding needed per affordable bed and the proposed rents of the new housing facilities.
She said the administration used that approach to sort projects into three groups: projects proposed for first‑round funding, projects that were eligible for first‑round funding but lower priority and projects that were ineligible for funding.
State lawmakers initially created $500 million for nine different colleges to build new student beds this year through a competitive application process, according to the same San Jose Spotlight article.
But interest in the program outstripped available funds as 42 of the state’s colleges responded to the offer, with each of them requesting $2.8 billion dollars.
In March, the Department of Finance proposed granting the nine campuses a share of the $500 million, even after the agency determined 17 other valid applications, according to the CalMatters article.
Ultimately, Newsom and other legislators settled on awarding the 26 campuses, denying SJSU’s application.
The university has an unhoused student population of 11.2% on campus, according to the SJSU Cares Basic Needs Survey from Spring 2021.
SJSU also has a sizable population of both working-class indigenous students and students of color, a population that must be considered in housing efforts, according to the San Jose Spotlight article.
Smith McDonald said the school is aware of how important affordable housing projects are to the in-need student populations and are working to secure funding and progress as quickly as possible.
Anthony Majano, sociology senior and Student Homeless Alliance president, said he feels very strongly about the university missing out on the state grant.
“It’s incredibly upsetting that we didn’t do everything in our power to try to at least fight for some of that money,” Majano said despite the university not qualifying for the grant. “I believe that even a portion of that money could have [gone] to such great use, especially for San Jose State because we have some of the highest cost of living in the entire country.”
Kristen Weaver, SJSU Cares case manager, said while it’s a shame that the university didn’t meet the requirements for the grant, it won’t be its only chance to receive financial support.
“It’s a shame to lose out on that opportunity,” Weaver said. “But I also trust that there are going to be other opportunities that come up. I know, for instance, that [SJSU Cares is] always regularly looking at grant opportunities and other things that our office can take advantage of.”
SJSU Cares have taken 667 requests for assistance in total for the 2021-22 academic year, according to its summary statistics report.
According to the report, 64.5% of those students requested assistance in housing.
Weaver said while students request assistance in housing, it’s important to distinguish that not every one of those students are unhoused.
“I think sometimes there’s a misconception that when people request assistance for housing that means that they are currently homeless,” Weaver said. “That is not the case.”
