Thanks to a new housing program, freshman students will be given the option of sharing on-campus apartments with friends from different colleges next year.

This program is a good first step in addressing serious problems with on-campus housing at UCSD and should be expanded to meet the growing demand for inter-college housing.

The housing crunch has forced freshman into living in different colleges than the ones in which they are registered, posing a difficult choice for some wishing to live with friends. The program will also serve students residing in their own colleges who wish to live with friends made at other colleges for their second year. This new option keeps students happy with their housing and helps to retain students on campus.

However, there is room for improvement. The program is limited in scope. Under the new plan, students wishing to participate will apply through early registration, competing for only 100 spots in 25 units at Warren Apartments.

The number of spots should be expanded, as demand will, without a doubt, be much higher than supply. Inter-college housing should also be made available throughout each of the six college campuses ‹ instead of just Earl Warren College ‹ to give a greater choice to students applying for the program.

At a university where students complain of a lack of school spirit and dead weekends, a program that would potentially serve to retain more sophomores on campus is welcome and should be rapidly expanded to meet the demand from students.