As students graduate from high school and move on to college, some don’t have the money to go straight to a four year, let alone live on their own.

Sometimes, an athlete wants a chance to get an offer from a four year college, but wasn’t offered a scholarship straight out of high school.

What about a teacher who wants the job but can’t afford to live in the area of the school they were offered the job at?

For these people, housing is an issue. For international students who want the best education possible, or athletes who want the best opportunity on a full-ride to a school for sports, or a teacher who wants a job to support themselves, or their family, the housing prices in the area are too expensive.

Because of the rising prices at the university level, more and more students are choosing the community college route because it is less expensive, but most community colleges don’t offer housing for students.

According to the California Community College System Chancellor’s Office, of the state’s 112 campuses, 11 offer housing.

The Dorms of Torrance, a building that offers housing for students in apartment-like dorms located in Old Town Torrance, is a solution for some El Camino College students.

Other schools like Santa Monica College do not offer student housing, but do offer tips on how to find housing in the area. According to Santa Monica College’s official website in their housing information for the school, “the college makes no representation as to the condition or suitability of any of the listed resources, nor does it assume responsibility for their condition or reliability, or for any agreements you enter into with them.”

Although most community colleges don’t offer housing for students, one college is trying to change that.

“Orange Coast College aims to build and open dorms by fall 2019 as part of a larger project that could make the school the only community college in Southern California to provide on-campus student housing,” written in an article in the Organge County Register.

Orange Coast is one of the first Southern California community colleges to push for students living on campus.

The housing issue is not just for students. Faculty and staff still face the same issues.

Faculty and staff members travel from surrounding cities and drive a good distance to work everyday because the cost of living in the area of El Camino is too expensive for some to afford a house.

One way we can fix this issue is to help new staff or faculty members who are coming to the school with finding affordable housing near campus and a stipend to help with the cost for living in that area. For student athletes, international students, or out-of-state students, there could be affordable housing in the apartments near campus.