Napa Valley College's On-Campus Housing On Track to Open Next Fall; Lease Office Opens
Napa Valley Register
November 8th, 2023
Katie DeBenedetti
Students at Napa Valley College can now begin their pursuit of housing on campus.
The community college on Friday officially opened the leasing office for River Trail Village, the housing community under construction at the north end of campus off Highway 221. The 580-bed project is set to open next fall with an array of housing options, from dormitory-like double bedrooms to furnished and unfurnished apartments and "family housing" units.
During the grand opening of the office inside the NVC library, employees answered questions and assisted students interested in applying for housing at River Trail. On opening day, more than 100 applications were started, according to Robin Darcangelo, the senior dean of student affairs.
A series of speakers at the event emphasized the importance of offering housing at two-year schools and the years devoted to the Napa project.
“Student housing has long been denied to the community college system,” said NVC president Torence Powell. “At present, there are only 13 of the 116 California community colleges that have any form of housing component … and we’re going to be No. 14.”
He added that at 580 beds, NVC’s housing complex will be the second largest in the state.
River Trail Village offers a choice of eight floor plans across three buildings, which were designed to create options for students at various life stages and budgets.
The development includes one building of more traditional dorm-style rooms, with both single- and double-occupancy furnished options. The single-occupancy dorm rooms were the first to fill up, selling out on Nov. 1. Double-occupancy rooms remained available as of Tuesday.
The other two buildings will be a mix of furnished and unfurnished apartments with wheelchair-accessible and family-style options, which allow students with children and even (in some cases) other unenrolled relatives to live on the NVC grounds.
Unfurnished apartments range from studios to two-bedroom units. According to Darcangelo, the college is still determining what the maximum occupancy of each unfurnished apartment will be.
The rooms will likely be able to serve as doubles, and it’s possible that similarly to California fair-housing rules, one additional person will be able to live in the unit’s living spaces.
Furnished studios, two-bedroom and four-bedroom units are available for rent by the bed.
Powell recalled Friday that nine years ago, discussions about housing insecurity among college students led to an idea to open up parking lots for students to potentially sleep in.
“While it was a well-intended idea, students sleeping in their cars ... is not the solution to addressing housing insecurity," he said. "Developing quality student housing is the solution, and that’s what we are here to celebrate today.”
However, one of the biggest remaining questions will be how affordable River Trail Village will be for students.
There are a number of beds in the dorm units that are offered at reduced rates, subsidized through a $31 million grant the college received as part of California's Higher Education Student Housing Grant program.
According to Darcangelo, there are 124 beds in the double-occupancy dorm rooms rented at $799 a month and three beds in single-occupancy units offered at $901 a month. For a double, the monthly market rate is $1,021.
Apartment-style units are not available at a reduced rate, though Darcangelo said students can apply financial aid and scholarships toward their rent. Furnished apartments are priced between $1,530 monthly for a shared room in a two-bedroom apartment to $2,076 for a single-occupancy studio.
All units will include all-inclusive utilities, laundry, Wi-Fi and other amenities.
With a limited number of reduced-rate units available, Darcangelo said eligibility will be determined using the criteria outlined in Senate Bill 169, which includes: students eligible for Pell Grants or Cal Grant financial aid, exempt from paying nonresident tuition based on the income criteria of the California Dream Act, or recipients of a fee waiver from the college.
The other barrier some students trying to reside at River Trail might face is the need for a guarantor for applicants. Darcangelo said this is something college staff is currently working on.
“We understand that there may be applicants who are not able to provide a guarantor, and we do not want to preclude them from applying,” Darcangelo said in an email.
NVC officials are working on developing a list of criteria that, if met, could exempt an applicant from needing a guarantor.
Darcangelo added that in partnership with the Napa Valley College Fund, the River Trail team is continuing to seek grants and donations that could potentially lower rents for more students in the future.
While questions loom about the affordability of River Trail for many, college leaders look forward to the possibilities that on-campus housing may open up for students.
“I am so excited that we are so close towards completion of our student housing project and really creating this opportunity that community college provides for even more students by addressing some of these basic needs,” Powell said.