On the first day of classes, 72 University of Arkansas at Fayetteville students living on campus had been assigned temporary living quarters.
The university as of Monday had contracts with 5,717 students for spaces in 17 residence halls and a university-run apartment complex, said Flo Johnson, UA's executive director of university housing.
While the maximum occupancy for such UA housing is 5,732 students, Johnson explained that students can't simply be plugged into any empty room available.
"You have to take into account gender," Johnson said, along with other factors such as affordability.
Students in the "overflow" housing typically stay in converted study lounges that might have previously been dorm rooms, Johnson said. UA anticipates that more than 50 students won't show up despite being counted Monday as having a contract, with the process of identifying permanent rooms for students in "overflow" quarters expected to begin today, she said.
Johnson said the number of students with contracts on the first day of class has increased.
"That is 6 percent higher than the same time last year," Johnson said.
A year ago, the campus added two residence halls to meet rising enrollment and demand for on-campus housing. UA generally requires freshmen to live on campus while some upperclassmen also choose to live on campus.
On campus, "we do have more new freshman," Johnson said. "We have more new transfers. We have more continuing students." A preliminary enrollment report is typically released by the university after the 11th day of classes.
Metro on 08/27/2014