New LAC student housing coming in 2028

For the first time in history, Long Beach City College moves towards offering on-campus student housing facilities at the Liberal Arts Campus on Oct. 8, making a milestone in the college’s efforts to expand student housing options.

The student dorms and housing community are expected to open in fall 2028 and highlight the transition towards residential student life on campus. With an approximate $127 million budget, it will provide 431 beds, shared kitchens, laundry rooms and other amenities to support student success at LBCC, Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz said.

“It really reflects how we’ve evolved to meet the changing needs of our students and our willingness to rethink what a community college can provide,” Mike Muñoz, Superintendent-President, said. 

Muñoz said housing insecurity has long been an issue in Long Beach, citing a student survey done during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying that nearly 70 students slept in their cars, which prompted LBCC’s safe parking program for students, Muñoz said.

This program began in 2021, allowing unhoused students to sleep in their cars on campus in a protected area and access to amenities like showers, electricity and Wi-Fi.

Caro Cardenas, LBCC’s newly elected ASB president, expressed excitement about the support future students will have with the new dorms. 

“The good thing is that having a safe, affordable place to live right here on campus makes everything just much easier. It puts vital resources and friends, family, mentors, basically right across the street,” Cardenas said.

^{LBCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Lee Douglas, welcomes attendees during the LAC Student Housing Groundbreaking Ceremony on Oct. 8. This $127 million project is a first-ever student housing complex. (Abigail Soto Godinez)}

College can be a balancing act with classes, working while raising a family, said Board of Trustees president and LBCC alumnus Uduak-Joe Ntuk, explaining that housing insecurity adds another struggle for students already managing many responsibilities.

“Yearly reporting shows 6%-12% of students being either homeless or experiencing housing insecurity, with another 50% expressing difficulties paying rent,” Ntuk said.

Ntuk described this project as a permanent and affordable housing option for over 400 students at LBCC and has partnered with CSULB to run the student dorms, drawing on the university’s experience with a successful on-campus living structure. 

Jeff Connell, associate vice president of capital planning, facilities and operations, shared a brief anecdote that described a planning and design session where colleagues identified access points around the facility where students would most likely need them as residents.   

“Our students now living on campus are going to be, you know, part of the fabric of this organization every day 24/7,” Connell said.