DJ Ross

Editor’s Note: The University Star incorrectly stated the total number of beds on campus in the print edition of this Main Point on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. The correct number is now reflected in the online version. We apologize for the error.

On Sept. 12, Texas State announced the overall enrollment for the fall 2024 semester surpassed 40,000, breaking the previous record of 38,849 set in 2016. In addition, the university is housing its largest freshman class for the fourth consecutive year in a row.

Though Texas State officials flaunt these numbers, continuous record-breaking enrollment brings problems for students who must deal with overcrowding. The main issue lies within housing, both on and off campus.

Even though first-year student enrollment is increasing, Texas State housing still requires new freshmen under 20 years old and with fewer than 30 credit hours to live on campus. The class of 2028 has a whopping 8,165 students.

Texas State has 22 on-campus dorm locations and three off-campus apartment-style locations. In total, there are 6,933 beds on Texas State’s main campus and even less when factoring in beds occupied by Resident Assistants (RA). Based on the number of freshmen, this is clearly not enough.

Over 1,000 beds were added to campus with the completion of Alamito and Cibolo halls. Despite this, many students were left without a bed at the beginning of the semester and were required to room with an RA or spend the beginning of the year in a hotel.

“We have 82 RA rooms that can hold a roommate,” Bill Mattera, executive director of Housing and Residential Life, said. “So all of those would have been assigned at some point, but very likely most of those folks never moved into those rooms because we started signing out pretty quick.”

Though RAs agree to a potential roommate in their contract, freshmen don’t have the power to say no. This situation creates an uncomfortable dynamic for both parties. Freshmen with RA roommates most likely feel on-edge, while the RA feels they are on the clock 24/7.

Along with this, many students are living in study rooms that were converted into dorm rooms. Though these solutions are often temporary, they are unethical as they place students in a room not built to be lived in.

“There are a lot of students on this campus who make their decisions because of finances really late in the process,” Mattera said. “These temporary flex options allow us to get a student on campus because we know there will be students who don’t show up.”

The University of North Texas, which has similar enrollment to Texas State, also requires first-year students to live on campus. However, students can choose to commute and live off campus. At Texas State, only students whose permanent address is 60 miles or less from campus can apply to live off campus, which Mattera said is already “an overly aggressive, too large radius.”

Along with problems on campus, off-campus housing has also been difficult for students. On Dec. 18, 2023, Texas State finalized the purchase of Sanctuary Lofts and Vistas from American Campus Communities. The apartments, now known as Balcones and Cypress apartments, were purchased with the intention of housing upperclassmen who wanted to live close to campus.

As of fall 2024, “less than 50” freshmen live in these apartments across the 1,700 available beds, though none are rooming with upperclassmen, according to Mattera.

This situation highlights a larger issue created by Texas State’s record-breaking freshman class, which has strained available housing options. Although Mattera attributes accommodations to freshmen living in Cypress and Balcones, the Department of Housing and Residential Life should not have promised these complexes would be upperclassmen-only.

With 120 students still waitlisted for on-campus housing as of August, it’s clear that despite backup plans, housing demand far exceeds supply, leaving many students without the accommodations they expected.

Mattera said in the future, Texas State hopes to provide more accommodations and housing is doing the best it can at the moment.

“We are looking to have enough housing inventory to house the full first-year class, be able to house upper-class students that want to stay with us and not have flexible housing options,” Mattera said.

Despite the goals Texas State has moving forward, administration must be mindful of the fact that actual humans are taking the weight of enrollment numbers. Housing is not an easy situation for anyone but students deserve to be comfortable on campus. With overcrowding, it’s not possible.

The Main Point is an opinion written by The University Star’s Editorial Board. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of our entire publication.