CHICO, Calif. - Just how difficult is it to find affordable student housing in Chico? Action News Now spoke with students and university leaders to get the full picture.

According to Connie Huyck, Executive Director of University Housing, on-campus university housing has not changed room and meal rates since last year, despite the Camp Fire. Out of the 2200 beds available, there are now eleven vacancies. Huyck said there is a waitlist for those beds, but the list is not so long that it raises red flags for her team. 

Dan Herbert, Director of Off-campus Housing says that contrary to popular opinion, there is ample availability in off-campus student housing. He said there are 500 beds open with property managers in touch with the university. Herbert said he would be happy to connect students struggling to find housing with a variety of options under different prices. 

Herbert did acknowledge a particular student demographic that is struggling. Those students fall outside the category of most typical college students between 18-22 years old, and may be single parents looking for an environment more family-friendly. These students are competing with the general public for housing. Herbert estimates there may be anywhere from 500-1000 of these types of students looking for housing. 

The university encourages any student having difficulty securing housing to get in touch.