UC Santa Barbara Guarantees Two‑Year Housing as Old Dorm Demolished for New Campus Residences

UC Santa Barbara announced that incoming freshmen and first‑year transfer students will receive guaranteed on‑campus housing for two years, beginning this fall. The guarantee covers the newly built San Benito apartments, slated for completion in fall 2027, and the East Campus residential complex, expected to be finished by fall 2028.

The university also demolished Santa Rosa Hall, its first residence hall opened in 1955, to make way for the East Campus Housing Project. Four new buildings will replace the former dorm, providing 1,688 beds and additional bicycle parking. Construction is on schedule and the new East Campus community is planned to open in fall 2028. Together with the San Benito phase, the university aims to add roughly 3,500 undergraduate beds across two phases.

Kiki Reyes, media relations manager for UCSB, emphasized that the projects aim to meet housing demand while avoiding the previously controversial Munger Hall plan.