The Berkeley Student Cooperative offers low cost student housing to students at UC Berkeley, Berkeley City College, and other universities and colleges .  There are 17 rooming houses and 3 apartment complexes.  Contracts are available for individual semesters or six-week summer periods.  You can apply and sign your contract online, and pay by mail or over the phone.  There is no interview process - it is first come, first serve.  Fall waitlists tend to be long, spring and summer housing is easy to get.  As of 2012, the application fee is $50 (of which $40 is refundable) and security deposit is $250 ($175 for EOP students).  Rent ranges from $433-881 a month and includes most utilities and in most cases all-you-can-eat food.