Senate subcommittee hears that student housing need outstrips available bond authority

The Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Education held a hearing on the California Community Colleges affordable student housing program and heard from the Chancellor's Office, the Legislative Analyst's Office and the Department of Finance.

Chris Ferguson, executive vice chancellor of finance and strategic initiatives at the Chancellor's Office, said the problem is widespread: "Nearly, 3 out of 5 community college students have experienced housing insecurity, and 1 in 4 indicate, being homeless," and described a pipeline of applications that outstrips current funding. Ferguson told the committee that roughly 19 applications in the latest round request about 3,800 beds and that five projects are operational as of August 2026.

Lisa King of the Legislative Analyst's Office said about $218,000,000 of lease revenue bond authority remains available and estimated that amount could likely support between two and five projects from the new round. "We estimate that the available funds could likely support between 2 and 5 projects from that new round of applications," King said, and added that the state would repay the bonds from the general fund.

Alexandra Waldman of the Department of Finance summarized project status under the state lease revenue bond financing mechanism: of 13 authorized projects two withdrew, of the remaining 11 five are in design, four are under construction and two are complete and being included in recent bond sales.

Committee members pressed witnesses on occupancy rates, intersegmental partnerships and cost escalation. Chair closing remarks said staff will publish the scoring methodology to determine which projects move forward. The committee opened the floor to one-minute public comments before adjourning.