California has launched a yearlong examination of what it would take to bring a public university to Chula Vista.
A new state task force leading that effort held their first meeting at Chula Vista’s City Hall on Friday morning. The vision is a hybrid, multi-university campus that would be the first of its kind in California.
Instead of a more traditional university, Chula Vista’s campus would serve as a satellite home for various programs from other colleges and universities.
“We're not looking to build a brand-new university or college campus from scratch,” said Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-Chula Vista, who authored the bill that created the task force. “We're trying to do something very different.”
The 14-member task force includes San Diego State University Provost William Tong and Southwestern College President Mark Sanchez, along with representatives from UC San Diego and Sweetwater Union High School District.
Over the next year, the group will look at what it would take to build and pay for the campus — and how it could be governed.
The task force is scheduled to meet three more times by next year. Its final report to the legislature is due in July 2027.
Bringing a public university to San Diego County’s second-largest city has been a decades-old dream for Chula Vista leaders.
Supporters of the project argue the South Bay is a “college desert” because of limited options in the area to earn a bachelor’s degree. According to a task force report, just a third of South Bay residents hold a bachelor’s degree, compared with 45% of residents countywide.
Chula Vista is the right location, supporters say, because the city has offered up 380 acres of city-owned land for the project and sits at the heart of a growing binational region.
The city could have used the land for many things, including more hotel developments and car dealerships said Marlene Garcia, a senior adviser to the task force, at Friday morning’s meeting.
“Instead, they focused on the university that would invest in the college attainment and opportunity for its residents,” she said. “And the economic opportunities that come with educational access and economic mobility for the community.”
The task force nominated Clarissa Falcon, a political consultant and former chair of the South County Economic Development Council, to lead the task force.
Sanchez, Southwestern College’s president, was appointed to serve as vice chair.
“I understand now that we’re at a very important crossroads,” he said. “And I believe that Southwestern College has built a prototype for what that would look like.”
The task force will focus on three specific areas in following meetings: land use, governance and financing. They said they plan to meet with members of the public, binational stakeholders and businesses.
Staff members said they hoped to hold their first meeting with the public in June.
