Santa Clara University

Housing for Exchange Students

On-Campus
On-campus housing prices vary depending on what facility you choose and whether or not you have a single, double or triple room. Most residence halls require you to purchase a meal plan as there are no cooking facilities in the halls.  However, for our 3^rd and 4^th year students (called junior and senior students) we now have on-campus halls with kitchens. Apartments and kitchens can be found in both the Casa Italiana (DaVinci RLC) and the Sobrato Hall (Loyola RLC). These halls feature apartment-style living, with four individual bedrooms, two shared bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room area.

Each residence hall is connected to what we call an RLC, or Residential Learning Community. More information can be found on our website at www.scu.edu/housing. Prices for the housing facilities can be found at www.scu.edu/housing/ugrad/rates.cfm

If you choose to live on-campus in the Casa Italiana or Sobrato Halls (which many of our exchange students have done in the past few years) please let us know right away. There is a special application form that needs to be filled out for these halls, and we can e-mail the application to you. 

Exchange students often ask, “If I choose to live on-campus, when will I know whether or not I have the place I have requested?” This is a good question, as our Housing Office often does not know what rooms are available until late May. But they work hard to accommodate your requests.  Maggie Malagon, our contact person in the Housing Office, has said she would be happy to work directly with you once you’ve decided to choose on-campus housing. You can email her at mmalagon@scu.edu with any questions.

Off-Campus
If you choose to live off-campus, you have several options. You can look for an apartment in the neighborhoods around the campus, or if you plan to have a car, you can look for a place farther away from the University. Prices vary and are very expensive if you plan to live by yourself. One bedroom apartments are about $1,000 a month.  If three of you want to share an apartment, you could probably get a 2 bedroom for about $1,500 per month. This might accommodate up to four students and cut your cost significantly. If you would like to live off-campus in an apartment, we recommend that you arrive at least one week before school starts to look for a suitable place. You can also search online apartment listings at http://www.craigslist.org (check the San Francisco Bay Area Housing section).

You can also choose to live with a family.  Many families in the area are willing to rent out a room to students.  Prices for this are about $500 to $600 a month per student. Family-stay and shared housing listings can be found on the SCU Office of Student Life’s website at http://www.scu.edu/studentlife/housing/index.cfm

If you are coming in September, many of our SCU students going to study abroad for the term have reserved a room in a house or apartment with friends and like to sublease their room out for the fall term.  The cost here can be a bit cheaper (maybe $400 a month), but if you are planning to live here for the year you will need to find a new place to live come January.  If you are only staying for the fall this is a good way to meet students and learn about American college apartment living. If you want to sublease, let us know and the office can connect you to the study abroad students interested in subleasing.

Please let our office know what you decide to do about housing.