Haven, work, study hall, training facility, hangout, gym and cafeteria. Bakersfield College is so many things to different people and soon it will even be considered home to an array of approximately 130 full-time students.
After long awaited news the student housing construction will be completed by Oct. 2026.
“Planning with move in is probably sometime in Spring of 2027 and it’s still dependent on the construction schedule,” Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services Dr. Queen King said.
Vice President of Student Services Dr. Cesar Jiménez explained, “There are criteria that we do have to meet such as the students have to meet certain socioeconomic status… For example, students who might be low income… They could be in the city of Bakersfield, they could be in the county of Kern,…It could be student athletes from out of state or an international student who’s from outside the U.S.”
Jiménez continued, “We are technically… funded through a grant with the state and through the Chancellor’s office.”
King added, “…The Higher Education Grant, it was granted through Senate Bill 169 in 2021, 2022. So, community colleges could provide affordable housing to students.”
Other students who will be considered for the student housing are students who are veterans as well as students who were at any point in the foster care system as a youth. The student housing will help many young students that age out of the foster care system and find themselves without a roof over their head. Now they will be able to plan ahead with their education locally and potentially have a place to live when it is needed all while gaining the knowledge required to get further in life than they dreamed.
This is excellent news for future Renegades and even some current ones that will still be attending in 2027 who may need housing.
“We haven’t fully launched the application process. But you know, through the CC apply, which is how students apply to Bakersfield College, there’s a prompt regarding housing interest,” said Jiménez. “And so, when we pull that data recently, we had over 900 duplicated student headcounts, who checked off that box of student housing interests. So that gives us an idea of, who we want to reach out to. Our goal may be to launch an interest form in March.”
There will be studio units for those who want more privacy, all the way up to four-bedroom apartments available.
“We have considered, you know, parenting students. However, at this stage, I don’t know if we’re going to have that available yet. That’s something we still have to think through because there’s additional things to consider regarding parenting students,” Jiménez said.
“We’ve worked on a emotional support animal (ESA) Policy, and a part of that is for student housing…we’re still working on that,” said Jiménez.
That is great news for those students who may need their emotional support animal (ESA) and will be living in the student housing. The administration is still working hard to fight for your rights to have your ESA on site.
Student housing will have all the onsite amenities they deem necessary for students to live on and thrive. Wi-Fi is included along with a designated study room on every floor as well as a computer room. They will also be offering complimentary educational and social programs for residence.
“But one example of a social program is also teaching our students how to cook,” said Jiménez.
There will be live in resident advisors who are there to assist in maintaining order and help when the other students need it. They will also be there to uphold the student handbook which will contain policies as well as procedures.
Once the students officially move in, the need for 24/7 College Safety will be crucial, which is one of the reasons BC is currently in the process of hiring a police chief.
“The hiring of the new police chief will oversee all of college safety operations, including the college safety needs, as it relates to student housing,” King explained.
With all of the hard work that has surrounded this student housing project it is definitely going to be worth it to see how many students it helps overall.
“If it gives more opportunities for more students to have more affordable living and more convenience for classes, I’m all for it,” said Bryan Romero, Sophomore student.