Chula Vista’s long and often humbling effort to get a top university to establish a major presence in South County might become a reality on a scale far larger than many people imagined. Local politicians and educators are proposing to build a super-campus on the eastern edge of the city where large satellites of UC San Diego, San Diego State University, and Cal State San Marcos would share buildings, creating the region’s first large higher education hub.
The tenants also might include Chula Vista’s Southwestern College, a two-year community college that is emerging as an incubator for bachelor-degree level programs offered by visiting university faculty.
South County has half a million residents — about the population of Atlanta — and no full-service university of its own. But for years it’s been trying to attract one. The proposed project, one of the few of its kind in the nation, is being led by Assemblymember David Alvarez, who says it’s possible the first phase of the campus could open in 2030 — if supporters can raise upwards of $300 million and agree on a governance plan.
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