We asked UCSC about this year’s influx of new students

This year at UCSC, the campus is feeling a little smaller — or at least, a little more crowded. Last November, the UC Board of Regents approved a plan to admit 5,000 more students for the 2016-17 school year. For UCSC, this means an increase of over 650 in the incoming freshman class.

When the Board of Regents wrote and approved the plan, it was likely in response to previous outcry over a pattern of rejecting California residents in favor of nonresidents, and of rejecting high numbers of minority students. The new plan was meant to be the solution to these problems; however, five weeks into the fall quarter here at UCSC, more problems than solutions have arisen as students struggle to find housing despite lack of space, and struggle to get to class despite daily bus overcrowding and shorter class times. 

While students acknowledge the good intent behind the decision, they wonder if, perhaps, things could have been done differently.

Cristina Bejarano, 21, Biophysical Anthropology

“[Taking the bus] makes me anxious and I have to make sure I’m up at a certain time. Even people who live on campus — they have to wait, sometimes two buses later, until they get [on a bus].

“Our teachers definitely feel rushed during their lectures. They feel like they can’t really get through everything in time so then they’re rushing through things.

“Students… can’t even get housing through their own colleges.”

Rae-Gim Lim, 22, Business Management & Economics double major

“Classes are so full that it’s hard to get help from TAs. The ratio for student to TAs [is] just increasing. Some of the classrooms are not able to hold that many students either.

“Increase in students also [means] that there [is] more competition in terms of getting classes during the beginning of the quarters. I have known people who can’t take their major classes because it is always full. It just doesn’t help us to have a good UC education when you can’t even enroll into the classes that you need, which may or may not affect [your] plan to graduate on time.”

Kyle Doria, 21, Politics

“Getting [to and from] classes is becoming increasingly difficult. What I used to be able to do was to just easily hop on a shuttle, but that’s not the case anymore because I get there and it’s already packed.

“My friends and I had to plan way ahead of time to find off-campus housing because we didn’t want to end up in the Hunger Games dorm fight. It’s not only housing that’s a problem, it’s finding affordable housing. I hear tons of stories about fourth-years about to graduate who are effectively homeless, who are just crashing on people’s couches, and that shouldn’t be happening at this university.

“The situation in the dorms now is pretty bad too. They’re packed like sardines in there. This campus is not made to house this many students.”

Irene Valencia, 21, Art & Community Studies double major

“Off-campus housing can be scary to think about… It comes with a long list of additional stressors such as bus overcrowding, needing to work more hours or even a second job just to pay for rent and all other expenses.

“There needs to be more student voice in these decisions. Students are not only being affected by this but we can’t forget faculty and staff who must also compensate for their shorter classes with more students, they should also be included in conversations. With all these major changes, how can the university expect future generations to come here, and be content with what is going on? It must start as a bottom-up approach with lasting momentum to make it happen.”

Noe Estrella, 22, Business Management & Economics double major

“I couldn’t even get an apartment in my own college. I remember Stevenson was closed down for a while and now that it’s open there’s no room for anyone who even wants [an apartment] anymore… I think some people were resorting to trying to use Family Student Housing, or they’re trying to live farther away, like in Watsonville or Capitola — there’s just not enough student housing.”

“Can’t even take the bus anymore… There’s like two, three that go by [the bus stop] and they’re always full. [I get passed] all the time… You really have to depend on luck to get the bus. It makes me late, it makes me stressed.”

Verenis Estrada, 21, Psychology 

“I live off campus so I have to leave… anywhere from an hour to two hours early just to get on campus, and I feel like I kind of waste my time because I have to leave so early.

“[The classes] are shorter, and also the time between to go to class was also cut down… The campus is so big and I have classes that are across campus… so it is a lot more difficult just to get across campus and make it to class on time.

“Looking for housing over the summer was very difficult because [some] landlords, once they find out you’re a college student, sometimes they automatically say no. I think the school and the city… need to be more aware that a good portion of people living here are college students. The city and the school need to work together to make affordable living situations.”

Leslie Rojas, 21, Molecular Cell Development

“I worked during the summer on [college] nine and ten maintenance, and I saw how all the doubles were being converted into triples... The lounges that were used to study or to hang out, they don’t exist anymore. I just feel bad for all the students on campus, they’re paying so much money for such a small space.

“And yes, it’s really hard to get a bus now. Even a loop [campus shuttle], they’re so packed, every morning, even if I get there early, I can’t even get on the first loop because it’s already packed from the base of campus.

“Don’t even get me started about the classes…. We only get an hour and thirty minutes for lecture and the teacher jams through lecture to get through everything. And it’s so much information…. An hour and thirty minutes, that’s not enough time. You can’t even get a seat. The class is filled with students — sometimes if you get there late you just have to sit on the stairs. I’m really upset that I’m paying so much money for an institution that can’t even provide the resources that we really need.”

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We banana slugs can only hope the situation will improve as the school year unfolds. But the reality is that the inconveniences associated with the influx of students, while experienced across all UCs, are magnified here in Santa Cruz (a town already known for being “the worst place to rent in the country“).

The irony in admitting more students is that it was done with the intent to widen the accessibility of a UC-quality education, but doing so has reduced accessibility to critical resources, thus lowering said quality for us all.