The Shorthorn - Officials say number of housing applicants is up

Officials say number of housing applicants is up

Written by Jai Malano-Ayers

Tuesday, 15 July 2008 08:01 PM

Angela George said she only wants to live on campus because, travel wise, it’s going to be a lot cheaper.

“As a transfer student, I wanted to try the dorms first, but I got wait-listed and they say there is no guarantee, so I will just be staying with friends off campus until I get something,” she said.

George said that her commute is about 50 minutes round trip and that she hopes to get a call soon.

“My main concern is that I will be driving to the campus Monday through Thursday, and that’s going to get pretty expensive for me,” she said.

With the demand for on-campus housing at an all time high, housing officials are concerned whether they are able to meet the demands of students and hope new apartment developments around campus will help alleviate that burden.

Matthew Hendricks, Housing and University Center assistant director, said the recent increase in expenses outside of the university, like food and utilities, are an indicator of the Housing’s 30 percent increase in applicants.

He said that although bills may have increased for many students, the amount of financial aid has stayed the same and, as a result, money is not going as far as it use to.

“Students rely on that money to cover their bills, and because everything seems to be increasing except financial aid, students are trying to find ways to save money,” Hendricks said.

Eric Leidlein, Housing and University Center executive director, said the first priority for any available housing will go to students who are not current on-campus residents.

He said that in the case of housing transfers, they would only be reviewed and permitted from Oct.1 through Nov.30 and Feb. 15 through April 30 in the spring.

Leidlein cites the high interest in campus housing to shaky economic times.

“All other times are considered heavy assignments periods for those that don’t have housing, and we have seen a demand during those times as gas prices continue to rise,” Leidlein said.

A recent article in The New York Times also suggested that, nationally, universities are at a demographic peak this year related to the number of students entering college, he said.

Monika Bhalla, a student assistant who has worked in the housing department for over a year, said that because of the demand placed on campus housing they have only been able to accommodate a few applicants in May and June.

“This demand is working ahead of our schedule, so we are encouraging housing applicants to apply for both the campus apartments and campus residence halls,” she said.

Students and parents alike are concerned with the length of the waiting list and that some have even gone so far as to apply for housing before they are even accepted into the university.

“Because they can only apply for one complex at a time, we are telling them to compare the ratio of units to the number of waitlisted applicants,” she said. “But they need to be accepted before we can even begin processing.”

Leidlein said there are currently two new private student housing developments being constructed around the campus, and that the university will be studying the demand to see if additional housing construction is warranted.

Views: 1788 | E-mail

Be first to comment this article

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 September 2008 03:54 PM )

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Housing Guide PDF