Universities in San Diego County with housing for undergraduates (in alphabetical order):

• CSUSM (Cal State San Marcos), San Marcos (a public university in the CSU system located in North San Diego County; www.csusm.edu) --CSUSM has a developed program for former foster youth on its campus called "ACE Scholars Services." See www.csusm.edu/ace for more information. Cal State San Marcos guarantees admission to foster youth who meet criteria and file all requested application materials by October 31. See the following webpage for details: http://www.csusm.edu/ace/prospective-students/application-steps.html.
• PLNU (Point Loma Nazarene University), San Diego (an independent Christian university; www.pointloma.edu)
• SDSU (San Diego State University), San Diego (a public university in the CSU system; www.sdsu.edu)  --SDSU has a developed program for former foster youth on its campus called "Guardian Scholars." See http://eop.sdsu.edu/Content/Guardian Scholars.html for details.
• UCSD (University of California, San Diego), La Jolla (a public university in the UC system; www.ucsd.edu) --UCSD has a developed program for former foster youth on its campus called "Guardian Scholars." See http://www.ucsd.edu/current-students/finances/financial-aid/types/scholarships/guardian.html for details.
• USD (University of San Diego), San Diego (an independent Catholic university; www.sandiego.edu). USD has academic support programs for former foster youth through its Student Support Services.

Students may also consider National University in San Diego. NU is an accredited non-profit independent university (like USD and PLNU) but it is different in that it offers a non-traditional higher education experience which includes a lot of flexibility. For more information, see http://www.nu.edu/.

See our FAQ page (questions 1 & 2) for an explanation about the differences among the public UC, CSU, and CCC systems, and California independent colleges and universities. San Diego County has one or more institutions in each category.