The University of Kentucky's dorms must be awesome, because everybody wants to live there. Following a record freshman enrollment for fall semester, the university finds itself shy at least 400 beds, according to the Courier Journal.
In addition to the 5,450 incoming freshmen, most of whom want a slice of dorm life, there are 2,425 returning dorm customers.
Having faced a bumper crop of freshman in 2015, the university has several solutions in place to deal with the overflow. It has added 6,850 beds over the last 5 years, according to the Courier Journal. In 14 residence halls, study areas have been designed as flex space to be pressed into service as dorm rooms with needed. These will be provided to students at a discounted rate until they can be moved into a standard dorm room.
In addition, resident advisors (RAs) are being required to share a room instead of having a single, a tactic employed during 2015 as well. An off campus apartment complex and potentially some Greek houses will absorb the rest of the need, according to LEX18.
Virginia Tech also finds itself overenrolled by about 1,500 students, according to NPR. Borrowing a page from the airline industry, it is offering students financial incentives to delay showing up on campus by a year. The offer options included a paid gap year, a year of free community college, or free summer classes in exchange for taking fall or spring semester off, according to NPR.
Naomi Millán is senior editor of Building Operating Management.
