Choices of Housing

On-Campus Housing

UC Hastings is one of a limited number of urban law schools with housing devoted exclusively to its students. The former Empire Hotel, once San Francisco’s tallest structure, is the location of UC Hastings’ residential center, known as McAllister Tower.

McAllister Tower is located one block away from the school’s academic and administrative buildings and holds 252 efficiency, studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments on 17 floors, housing some 300 UC Hastings students and, in some cases, their spouses or significant others. 

Among other amenities, a gymnasium and fully-equipped fitness center round out “the Tower.” Atop the Tower is the Sky Room, an art deco-style lounge with breathtaking views of the San Francisco skyline and Bay Area. The Sky Room is regularly used for receptions and as a place for students to relax and study.

Once admitted to UC Hastings, students are eligible to apply for an apartment in the Tower. Apartments are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis, so the sooner one submits the housing application, the greater the chance of getting an apartment.  Generally, between 80 to 90 apartments become available each academic year.  Once assigned an apartment, students are permitted to live in the Tower for all three years of study.

Off-Campus Housing

Considered one of the major tourist destinations in the United States, San Francisco is much more than its famed steep hills, clanging cable cars, and culinary delights. Indeed, San Francisco’s vitality is derived from its many unique neighborhoods whose riches are rarely discovered by the hurried tourist. Students who live off campus have the opportunity to explore and experience this amazing city from an insider’s perspective.

UC Hastings provides numerous resources to assist students planning to live off campus. The Student Information Center (SIC) produces the Campus Housing Guide, which offers excellent information and advice about finding an apartment, getting around on mass transportation, and much more. SIC also hosts an online housing board that new and returning students use to find potential roommates or locate available apartments.

Online Housing Board

UCH Housing Board - a Google Group based discussion board for newly admitted and current students seeking housing, roommates or offering housing.

E-mail sic@uchastings.edu to request an invitation to join the UCH Housing Board. Please include your UC Hastings ID number. If you have a gmail account, it is easier to access the board. (If you are newly admitted, refer to your letter of admission for your ID number.)

Be sure you sign in before you accept the invitation so you can read the board online.

For those who are not UC Hastings students but wish to offer housing, please e-mail a posting to sic@uchastings.edu.