University of San Diego wants to expand student housing

The University of San Diego wants to more than double the number of students it can house at its campus in the city's Linda Vista community.

 

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the private Catholic university has received permission from the San Diego Planning Commission to increase its housing capacity to 5,701. The university now can accommodate 2,600.

 

The proposed increase has the support of Linda Vista's community planning group.

 

If the expansion is approved, the university says it will phase in the new housing over many years and will build only low-rise dwellings.

 

"A best practice in education is having your students live on campus," said Ky Snyder, vice president of university operations. "(And) we have an acute housing crisis in our community."

 

The university says it charges students an average of about $12,200 per academic year for housing. With few exceptions, freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus.

 

Nearly 5,800 of the school's 9,100 students are undergraduates. The university charges $58,420 in tuition.

 

San Diego County's three public universities — UC San Diego, San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos — have added thousands of units of housing in recent years to accommodate enrollment growth and demand.