Increasing demand for dorm housing at the University of Michigan has left the university unable to house many returning and transfer students. The university first allocates housing for the entire freshman class; whatever is remaining is open to transfer and returning students.
The upcoming academic year saw nearly 3000 housing requests from returning students, for just 1100 spots.
Rick Gibson is the director of housing for the University of Michigan. He says final numbers fluctuate each year depending on demand, but for the past few years, more students have requested to live in dorms for multiple years.
“For the past several years, demand has consistently outpaced the number of rooms available for returning students.”
Gibson says that in past years, the university has converted dorm lounges into bedrooms to house around 60 additional students. But ideally, the university would have the infrastructure to accommodate all students who want to live on campus.
“Obviously, I don’t have like, 1000 beds on hold to be able to activate.”
The university has broken ground on a new 2,300-bed dorm set to open in the Fall of 2025 on the site of Elbel Field. However, for this upcoming school year, students who were unable to secure a dorm are left to rent off campus.
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