Scott Becker is not an average starving college student. The 23-year-old UC San Diego student calls home a spacious condominium with vaulted ceilings, plush cream carpeting and a covered balcony.

Becker is one of a growing number of students who lives in a kiddie condo, a home purchased by his parents as an investment while he attends college.

"I'm very satisfied," Becker said of his one-bedroom pad in the University Towne Centre area. The bioengineering doctoral candidate talked his parents into buying the condo as an investment two years ago.

"My first thought was, 'Is he nuts?' " Scott's mother, Nancy Becker said. But after crunching the numbers, the condo option made sense. Living off-campus would cost him several hundred dollars a month, but buying the condo, then priced at $219,000, allowed Becker to live in a more upscale and permanent space for an equivalent monthly payment.

Kiddie-condo purchases are on the rise in San Diego. Real estate agents say the trend first caught on here in the 1980s and has resurged recently.

"Parents are becoming aware that it's a good thing to do," said Jim Field, a Century 21 Award agent who sells condominiums in the University City-La Jolla area. Field estimates that during the summer families with college students comprise as much as 20 percent of his clients seeking entry-level condos.

Fueled by historically low mortgage-interest rates, astute parent investors and a limited supply of on-campus housing, the kiddie condo movement is creating a class of not-so-poor students.

A recent survey of commuter students at UCSD found that 3 percent, roughly 700 students, live in homes they own. That number is a mix of older, nontraditional students with families, and younger students whose parents have the resources to purchase another home.

"The dormitories are no bargain," real estate agent Jim Prechtl said. "I think private housing prices can easily compete with student housing."

Figures compiled by the UCSD off-campus housing office estimate that students with private bedrooms in apartments pay between $400 and $600 a month, while those sharing a bedroom pay between $300 and $400 a month. Although on-campus housing arrangements vary greatly on campuses, when broken down into monthly payments, most range from $450 to $960.

While many may only consider cost when comparing dorm living with apartment living, college officials emphasize that the experiences and advantages are altogether different.

Living on campus provides close proximity to classes and dining halls and easier circumstances to make new friends. Living in a condo provides a more permanent, secure living space with the occasional added amenities of air conditioning, covered parking and a swimming pool. For the investors, real estate provides a tax break and potential for significant capital gains.

College communities have become such a market for kiddie condos that some agents specialize in the field. Asamawari Tobin regularly takes out ads in a UCSD student newspaper urging students with housing problems to "Tell Mom & Dad to buy a Condo!" His half-page ad features pictures and testimonials of satisfied student and parent customers. Tobin estimates he has sold a dozen homes a year to college families. The clientele make up 40 percent of his business, he said.

Tobin, who once worked as a security guard at UCSD, said he pursued real estate after hearing complaints from UCSD parents frustrated with a lack of housing options. Up until last year, the waiting list to live on campus topped 1,900 students, said Mark Cunningham, director of housing and dining at UCSD. That figure will drop to 400 this fall with the opening of 1,240 new dorm units and university apartments.

At San Diego State University, student surveys show there is demand for an additional 9,000 to 10,000 apartments within walking distance of campus. Only 11 percent of students are able to live on campus. Unlike UCSD, where incoming freshmen are guaranteed two years of on-campus housing, SDSU is unable to make any housing guarantees. The university has plans to add some 5,500 new beds for on-campus living over the next 10 to 15 years, but in the meantime, waiting lists for on-campus housing will continue to grow.

This fall, Cal State San Marcos will unveil its first student housing project, a combination of dorms and apartments for 460 students.

Besides the limited supply of on-campus housing, students say they struggle with apartment complexes and landlords who require occupants to show proof of salary or to pay for several months' rent in advance.

Some have learned to work the system. Two years ago, after exhausting all his options, Jonathan Pettingill and four buddies from UCSD offered their stellar report cards to a prospective landlord in an attempt to show they were responsible enough to rent a house in Mira Mesa. Pettingill, who boasts a 3.7 GPA, said he was relieved when the landlord agreed.

"The housing situations are so tight, they can take who they want," said Pettingill, who continues to pay $340 a month for his bedroom in the house.

Despite the flexibility and control of owning a condo, campus officials say it is not for everyone.

"I would never recommend that freshmen live off campus," said Pat Kroncke, director of housing administration at SDSU. "Anybody living on campus has a 10 (percent) to 15 percent better chance of having a higher GPA, and ultimately of graduating."

And increasing numbers of families might be priced out of the option, real estate agents say, as San Diego's home prices continue to skyrocket. Field predicts sales will stabilize this year, unless interest rates continue to drop.

For families that have been able to pull off a kiddie condo, there are many advantages.

Robert Low, of San Francisco, bought a condo for his daughter Maggie in Pacific Beach a year ago. Although wary at first, Low said the condo has proved to be a solid investment that has provided his daughter with more permanent housing, more control over her roommates, and practical living experience.

While he doesn't expect to make any money from the deal, Low said he's happy to be able to offer below-market rent to Maggie and her three roommates – all UCSD students. He purchased the three-bedroom, 21/2-bathroom condo for $379,000, and estimates that by charging the students $400 and $500 a month, he's able to break about even, after considering property taxes, homeowner association dues and tax advantages.

Maggie Low, a junior studying political science, is thrilled with the set-up. She's learned to repair the garbage disposal, replaced a washing machine and fixed toilets.

Despite the spacious Spanish villa-style accommodations, which include a garage, patio, living room, dining room and kitchen, Maggie Low doesn't consider her home extravagant.

"For me, it's the same because my dad would pay the rent if I were living in an apartment," she said. "I still have same living expenses. We're still sort of poor."