Cal State San Bernardino’s student housing program is millions of dollars in debt, and there’s little chance it can turn things around, according to an audit from the Cal State University chancellor’s office.
In the past seven years, CSUSB’s Department of Housing and Residential Education has experienced “significant” losses due to the $8 million in debt it must cover each year related to its dorms, including the recently constructed Coyote Village, according to the Aug. 6 audit.
Things got so bad, the auditors noted, that by the end of June, $18.5 million in outstanding debt was transferred from the housing program to the rest of the university.
That move raises “serious concerns” about the CSUSB housing department’s ability to remain financially self-supporting, as mandated by CSU policy, according to the audit.
CSUSB did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
‘Improvement needed’
Universities generally want students to live on campus, especially early in their college careers. A 2006 report by the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative looking at multiple factors that influence student success concluded that “living on campus had the greatest total effect … on learning outcomes of any institutional characteristic.”
As of August 2025, CSUSB’s housing department offers about 1,480 beds across three student housing developments: Coyote Village, University Village and Arrowhead Village. First-time freshmen applying for on-campus housing are required to live in the 405-bed Coyote Village, which opened in 2018.
Serrano Village, which offered 383 beds, closed in 2020 due to maintenance costs. It was the only debt-free housing development at CSUSB, according to the audit.
In fall 2024, the housing department provided housing to 1,281 students, faculty and staff, according to the audit, reaching an occupancy rate of 87%.
The auditors noted that declining enrollment, broader economic conditions, including the COVID-19 pandemic that closed CSUSB and other campuses, and other factors beyond the university’s control have compounded the housing department’s financial predicament. Still, the audit found numerous problems in the university’s management of the housing program.
“In general, we found that compliance with California State University (CSU) policies and procedures was inadequate. Our review noted that improvement was needed for all areas under review, most notably in the areas of fiscal oversight, staff training, and conference and event administration,” the audit reads in part.
Revenue problems
Although the department is in the red, the budget deficit has been shrinking each of the past four years, according to the audit. The department ran a deficit of $6.4 million in 2021, $3.3 million in 2022, $3.2 million in 2023 and, as of Aug. 6, was projected to run a deficit of $2.3 million in 2024.
These losses have been offset with funds from elsewhere in the university budget, including a $4.4 million loan from the operating fund — which the audit notes is illegal under CSU rules — a $900,000 contribution from the University Enterprises Corp. fund, and two loans totaling $4 million from the Professional and Continuing Education Operations and the Santos Manuel Student Union Operations funds. Such transfers are normally done only with the approval of the chancellor’s office, which does not appear to be the case for the transfers noted in the audit.
Meanwhile, the housing department’s debts have prevented it from putting aside funds in its reserves, as it’s required to do, according to the audit.
And the department still doesn’t have enough revenue to cover its debts, with the audit noting that this year’s $8.3 million debt payment will likely be transferred to other parts of the university.
The housing department’s revenue problems are due, in part, to it not getting revenue from one of the university’s organizations, the University Enterprises Corp. The corporation runs dining services at the housing department’s Coyote Commons dining hall but, according to the audit, the department wasn’t billing the corporation for all services rendered.
At the time of the review, the audit noted, the housing department had not billed the UEC for two consecutive years.
The university’s student housing program is also being undercut by a privately run apartment complex across the street from campus, The Glen. According to the audit, “the Glen has marketed itself using language that may give the impression of a formal affiliation with the university” and participates in events intended to highlight campus services, further confusing students.
“After fieldwork, CSUSB management informed the audit team that they met with management from the Glen to discuss the issues noted above, and that actions have already been taken to update the website and web advertising materials,” the audit report reads in part.
The audit includes 13 pages of recommendations for CSUSB officials, including:
- Develop a strategic plan to make sure housing operations are both financially viable and in compliance with CSU policy.
- Make sure future financial transfers match CSU policy.
- Conduct periodic reviews of the housing department’s reserves.
- Determine how much money is due from University Enterprises Corp. for its use of dining areas and recover those funds.
CSUSB, in responses included in the audit report, agreed with the suggestions, and said it will comply with the recommendations by Dec. 12.
Faculty concerns
The impact of the housing department being so deep in debt impacts other parts of the university, according to Monty Van Wart, a professor of public administration at CSUSB who wrote an analysis of the housing audit for the faculty senate.
The transfers “take money out of the state operating fund and take money away from the funds available to pay for staff and faculty,” Van Wart said. “We have the highest teaching loads now that I have seen in the university’s history and that I have ever personally experienced myself.”
Van Wart, who won the university’s outstanding professor award in 2023, has taught at CSUSB since 2005.
The Department of Public Administration once had two full-time support staff and one shared with another department. The department now shares a single staffer with another department, Van Wart said, meaning students get less assistance.
“Why are students being asked to pay for the mismanagement?” he asked.
The university has known there was a problem since at least 2018, according to the audit.
“Part of the problem has been made much worse by kicking the can down the road and not addressing it,” Van Wart said. “By the summer of 2020, it was a crisis. They did not talk about it. They did not do anything about it.”
According to the audit, CSUSB officials have assured the university system that the housing department will break even by 2033. But how that will happen isn’t clear, Van Wart said.
“By having rosy scenarios thrown at us — ‘oh, it’s going to get better, we know it’s going to get better’ — there’s no reason to believe it’ll get better,” he said.
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