Blog

Dec 12, 2023

Squeezing more beds into dorm rooms, converting lounges, Maryland universities adapt to meet housing demand

Just weeks before move-in, Towson University freshman Katie Kochanek learned Aug. 4 that her dorm, originally set for two students, would be squeezing in one more. The double-turned-triple room is one

Just weeks before move-in, Towson University freshman Katie Kochanek learned Aug. 4 that her dorm, originally set for two students, would be squeezing in one more.

The double-turned-triple room is one of several in an adaptation plan for this year to fit 7% more students in college housing, according to Towson University spokesperson Jamie Abell. With fall marking the largest first-year incoming class at 3,047 students, the university has 4,542 active housing contracts as of Aug. 17. Any new student who filed a contract by May 1 was guaranteed on-campus housing. Towson would not share if students who filed a contract after May 1 were put on a waitlist or denied housing.

“I wasn’t thrilled,” Kochanek said of finding out about her triple room. “I was stressing out about all the things that might go wrong with it. But the idea of having two other roommates didn’t really bother me. It was just, how is this going to work?”

The Maryland Higher Education Commission projects that enrollment at the state’s public colleges and universities is will rise 15% by fall 2029, as compared to 2019. With a greater demand for student housing this fall, some Maryland institutions are nearing or over capacity, causing them to instill various adaptations, be it squeezing more students into dorm rooms or relying on partnerships with nearby housing facilities.

With the housing changes, some students have expressed feelings ranging from frustration to gratitude. Others have found themselves grappling with housing insecurity and increased financial pressure.

At Towson University, those placed in triple rooms will get 20% of their housing fees back and will later go through a “de-tripling” process as more spaces become available, Abell said. Similarly, at the University of Maryland, College Park, about 80 single dorm rooms were transformed into doubles to accommodate the additional 500 students in residence halls as compared to last fall, per a university spokesperson.

In addition to the temporary triple dorm rooms, Towson University has placed some students in an “overflow” space — residential lounges that have been converted into eight-student dorms, complete with beds, wardrobes, dressers and desks as well as “plentiful access” to micro-fridges, Abell said. Those students will also receive the 20% reduction and will have priority in the spring semester housing process for the 2024-25 academic year, according to Abell. To help students navigate the increased density of housing, the university has created mediation assistant positions to aid in peer communication.

Abell said the university is reaching out to students who didn’t check in for move-in to see if they have opted to live off campus, as well as verifying that residents who said they moved in are actually in their dorms. By Friday, Towson will start moving students to permanent housing assignments, prioritizing overflow students, then those in the triple rooms.

Some of Maryland’s historically Black colleges and universities are seeing growth in enrollment as as part of a national trend. HBCU undergraduate enrollment grew 2.5% in fall 2022 — with 6.6% more freshmen enrolling at the schools, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. That’s a reversal from fall 2021, when HBCU undergraduate enrollment declined 1.7%.

Coppin State University, one of Maryland’s four HBCUs, said it’s nearing capacity for on-campus housing, with 749 housing applications turned into 661 residents assigned as of Aug. 29. Last fall, when 556 students were assigned housing out of 636 applications.

The university shared it has reconfigured residence hall rooms to make more use of existing space. And by October 2024, Coppin State will break ground on a new residence hall to “keep pace with our growing student population and the demand for on-campus housing,” according to a statement.

Katherine Camacho of Damascus, left, moves into her dorm room with the help of her mom Graciella, center, and dad Daniel, at Towson University, Wednesday, August 23. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

Morgan State University, another HBCU, is projecting an overall student enrollment of nearly 10,000 students for the fall semester, up by about 900 compared to last year, according to a spokesperson.

“This will be our third year in a row that we’ve had record enrollment and record demand for on-campus housing,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Kevin Banks, who oversees student housing.

Across all university-owned, -managed and -affiliated housing both on and off campus, Morgan State can house about 4,840 students. As of Tuesday, 4,500 students had been placed; an additional 250 students are on a waitlist. Banks said in an Aug. 22 interview the university is “definitely” expected to hit housing capacity.

However, spokesperson Larry Jones said in an email that the university “is not currently experiencing a housing crisis” and that the majority of students either commute to campus or participate online.

“At no time during the lead-up to the start of this fall semester did the University fail to meet its obligation for housing or fail to deliver on a promise of student housing,” he said. “Being accepted at Morgan and becoming enrolled is not contingent upon whether or not there is housing available for prospective students.”

The freshman class currently stands at more than 2,300 students, with more than 2,000 placed in university housing; if that number holds until October, it will be a new Morgan State record.

“We’ve always maintained that freshmen need to be on campus,” Banks said.

But that preference hasn’t been possible. Besides climbing enrollment numbers, the university has been implementing a strategic housing plan that calls for renovating its “legacy buildings” over the next three to four years to ensure its housing inventory is up-to-date and competitive with off-campus options, Banks said. As a result of the construction at the Baldwin and Cummings residential halls, 200 beds became unavailable this year.

Students have been referred to popular off-campus apartment options such as The York and The Social North Charles, which already house many Morgan State students and are along bus routes, Banks said. Additionally, on Aug. 2, the Maryland Board of Public Works approved a request from Morgan State to rent 180 rooms, which translates to 348 beds, at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, a $4.3 million contract that expires May 2024. There are currently 304 students at the hotel.

“Every freshman that wants to be on campus was not able to be on campus. And that’s the reason why we have to increase our inventory of beds on the campus for first-year students,” Banks said.

Jones said the university will add over 800 beds to its on-campus inventory by August 2024.

The university aims to house 45% to 50% of the undergraduate population on campus in the coming years, with a focus on freshmen and sophomores, Banks said. But that can leave some upperclassmen feeling abandoned.

A sign welcomes students on move-in day at Towson University Wednesday, August 23. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

Neya Glover, a rising junior, has run into housing issues before. In fall of 2022, she was one of 465 students placed at The Lord Baltimore Hotel rather than a dormitory, a change she learned of a week before move-in. She had to take a 20-minute shuttle to and from campus. Glover said she paid $5,650, with financial aid, for one semester at the hotel last year. This year, the cost is $5,877.50 per semester, which the university said is comparable to staying at Morgan State’s Thurgood Marshall Residence Hall or Altus Towson Row.

This past spring, Glover was unable to apply for housing before it went to a waitlist because she couldn’t afford the $200 application fee or get it waived.

Although her lease at The York started Aug. 23, Glover had to pay for the entire month of August to the tune of about $1,300. She was working three jobs at the time.

“I haven’t been able to have fun. I don’t even have groceries for my apartment because every single dollar that I’ve made has gone to that rent,” Glover said. “I’m still having to dedicate every single dollar to the rent payment because financial aid has not gotten back to me at all.”

Glover now has to come up with her second rent payment due Sep. 1. If her financial aid disbursement comes through to help cover costs, it won’t be until mid-September.

[ Maryland’s HBCUs race to erect and fix buildings as enrollment hits record highs: ‘It makes for a balancing act’ ]

Glover said she’s tried to get in touch with the school’s administration via email and in person to no avail.

“I have dedicated so much energy and time to this school for them to completely leave me in the dark like this, and I’m definitely not the only one,” Glover said. “That’s disingenuous for the school to report that they’re having record enrollment and to show these cute TikToks of them moving the freshmen in when upperclassmen are suffering. The people that are so close to getting their degree have to put it on pause because the school is not helping them. The school is not hearing them. The school is not responding.”

Banks said struggling students should go to him or the housing office and that administration is working “as fast as possible” to clear students financially and get them assigned to beds.

Neya Glover, third-year student at Morgan State University, outside the new Thurgood Marshall Hall residence. Glover is frustrated at being shut out of housing on campus. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

“I really believe this year we did a much better job at meeting the demands of our students,” Banks said, “but we have a finite number of beds.”

Another student, who attends UMD, also shared issues with off-campus housing. Harper Goldberg, a junior, said in an email to The Sun that she signed a lease with Aspen Heights, a new apartment complex near the university that brands itself as student housing. However, Goldberg said she was notified Aug. 7 that move-in would be delayed past Aug. 19, the previously planned date. Classes started Monday.

The apartment complex did not respond to a request for comment. The same complex’s location in Towson was the subject of lawsuits filed in 2020, as the complex charged rent before the building could be occupied.

“This is not the first time that Aspen Heights has failed to deliver apartments to their residents on time,” Goldberg said in the email. She declined an interview, saying that she has sought legal counsel.

Meanwhile, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the Johns Hopkins University told The Sun they aren’t experiencing any issues with housing this semester.

Kochanek moved into her triple dorm the week of Aug. 21 and found it set up with one set of bunked beds and a third sitting off to the other side of the room. She was surprised at how the space looked bigger than what she had imagined and commended Towson on a job well-done.

“Yes, it’s not like the most ideal place, but this is still your college experience,” Kochanek said. “This is all a part of the experience.”