University of California-Santa Cruz

Enrollment

Of 19,938 students enrolled in fall 2024, 17,940 were undergraduates and 1,998 graduate students. 1% studied exclusively online, students who don't need a bed near campus. Headcount rose by 174 from fall 2023 (+0.9%).

Housing the college controls

IPEDS counts 9,423 beds of institutionally controlled housing for 2024-25. That figure is the school's own capacity, on or off campus, so it includes halls the college leases or manages but not private buildings that simply market to students. Capacity shrank by 101 beds from the year before (9,524 in 2023-24).

What students pay

The school can't split food from housing, so it reports one combined 2024-25 charge: $19,948 for the academic year. Its aid office budgets $19,560 for food and housing for a student living off campus away from family.

Those are the college's own figures. Private by-the-bed rents near campus can sit well above or below them, so check current asking rents before you underwrite a project.

How lenders read a campus like this

With 19,938 students, most of them full-time, the campus clears the 10,000-student minimum in Fannie Mae's Multifamily Guide for Dedicated Student Housing (Part III, Chapter 1, section 103.01, effective September 28, 2026). Under sections 103.01 and 103.03 a property still has to sit within 2 miles of the campus boundary or near a college-run transit line, have operated a full school year, and lease at least 80% of units for 12 months.

To size a specific property, use the student housing loan sizer. It works by the bed and shows which constraint sets the loan.

Among the 71 California campuses on this site, University of California-Santa Cruz ranks number 23 by full-time students beyond college housing. See the California table.