By admin 
As soon as the application for on-campus housing at Sacramento State opened earlier this year, Angelina Amarel logged in to fill out her dorm preferences for her first year of undergraduate studies. She was determined to get a spot at Mt. Whitney Hall, the school’s brand new, five-story residence hall that will house 335 students.
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On Wednesday morning, as families and students filed into campus for move-in day, the Bakersfield teenager claimed her double-occupancy room in the 97,000-square-foot Mt. Whitney Hall.
“This was my top choice, and I’m so excited I got it,” Amarel said. “I’m most excited to decorate my dorm. The first thing I’m going to do is make my bed so I can lay in it.”
With classes set to begin Aug. 31, hundreds of new first-year students at Sacramento State moved into their residence halls located in the campus’ North Village this week. Welcomed by Herky the Hornet, the cheer team and the campus community, the students and their families checked in before unloading their belongings and setting up their new rooms. At newly built Mt. Whitney Hall, the excitement was particularly high.
The campus’ eighth residence hall, it opened to students Sunday after a year and a half of construction. The $69 million project features study lounges, recreation areas, housing and academic spaces, outdoor amenities, natural lighting, energy-efficient systems, and e-bike charging stations. In preparation for move-in day, the resident assistants had decorated each floor with a different theme — Rick and Morty, Pokémon and Luca, for example. The new residents, meanwhile, were busy trying to give the freshly painted walls and pristine furniture a personal touch. On the second floor, Aislinn Ingles was putting up photographs of the ocean and framed seashells on the walls of her new room as her father built her new bookcase.
“She’s one of the first people in our extended family that’s going away to school, and we’re very proud of her,” her mother Ja’net Vallotton said. “She worked pretty hard to get here. I’m just sad that she’s leaving me. She’s been my little bestie for 18 years of her life, and now she’s going away and I’m going to miss her so much. Don’t make me cry.”
Mt. Whitney Hall was partly funded by a $41 million state grant which supports affordable student housing. As a condition of that grant, the university will offer a 25% discount on room rent to 285 first-year students in double-occupancy rooms each year. At Mt. Whitney Hall, rent per month varies from $1,300 to $1,700 per month, depending on whether the student is residing in a single-, double- or triple-occupancy room.
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Across residence halls, the regular rate to rent a single room at Sacramento State — not including meals — is about $1,600 per month under a nine-month agreement that includes winter break. Sharing a room with one other student reduces that rent to about $1,400 and with two others makes it $1,120. A studio costs $1,850 per month for the 2026-27 school year. These are approximate figures; rents differ across different halls. These rates reflect about a 7% increase from the previous year.
With Mt. Whitney Hall, the university now has space for more than 3,600 students to live on campus, that is more than 10% of its student body. This includes the seven residence halls for first-year students and the suite-style units and apartments for sophomores, upper-division students and graduate students.
The new hall opened just in time to absorb a boost in freshman housing demand as the school implements its new on-campus living requirement. For the first time in the 80-year history of Sacramento State, first-year students entering campus this fall are required to live on campus — unless they’re local to the area. Other exemptions are offered to students who are 21 or older, have a medical condition or disability that cannot be accommodated on campus, married or are a parent, face financial hardship, or are active-duty members of the armed forces or veterans. Next year, the policy will expand to sophomores, too.
While Sacramento State was able to accommodate all the first-year students now required to live on campus, it still had about 150 non-freshmen on the housing waitlist as of June 1. For years, the school’s student housing has been at capacity. Next year, it will unveil a new apartment complex to accommodate the increasing demand.
For Valeria Garcia, a freshman from Monterey Bay, the new living requirement is convenient. She lives three hours away, she said, and could not have commuted, anyway. Vallotton, meanwhile, said she was grateful for the dorms but would like to consider the option of her daughter Aislinn living with extended family instead next year as it will likely be more economical. That, however, under the new rule, is not allowed.
As students like Valeria and Aislinn settle into their new dorms, the campus has planned a series of events this week to kick off the new academic year. Up next, President Luke Wood will deliver his annual fall address Thursday morning, during which he will provide updates on the state of the university, highlight student and faculty achievements and make an announcement. On Friday evening, the campus will host Hornet Nest Fest, one of its largest fall welcome events which brings students and families together for an evening of activities, entertainment and campus spirit.
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This story was originally published August 26, 2026 at 5:05 PM.