S.C. State addresses housing concerns as enrollment rises
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WIS) - South Carolina State University is seeing a rise in enrollment leading to questions of whether there will be enough housing to meet the demand.
Housing availability was already planned to be cut for the fall semester as one residential building is set to be closed for renovations.
“It’s a good problem, but it’s one that’s manageable,” said South Carolina State’s vice president for enrollment management, Manicia Finch, Ph.D.
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Since 2022, applications and enrollment figures have been up at S.C. State.
Enrollment between 2022 and 2023 went up nearly 15%. Applications for the fall semester went up 29% over last year.
“Freshman are guaranteed housing, we want to make sure their first year that they can maneuver the campus and maneuver the city. So they’re gonna be on campus regardless. A lot of our upperclassmen are going to be on campus as well. As a resurgence of enrollment comes, the preparation is coming too,” said Finch.
Because of limited housing, the university plans to cap the number of freshmen itted into the next school year at 1,000 in contrast to more than 1,200 new students that were enrolled last year.
The university has launched a new housing registration system called StarRez, which will allow the Office of Residence Life and Housing to track applications and placements.
“Students have to be cleared financially which means that they can’t owe money for last fall and this spring before they can apply for housing for the fall. There are things that they need to do prior to even applying so that we don’t have students taking rooms who maybe shouldn’t have a room,” said S.C. State’s director of residence life and housing, Andre Thompson.
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Thompson said students can track the progress of their applications through the registration system.
Finch hopes the enrollment growth could lead to additional resources in the future.
“I just want to see us flourish and our fruition be well recognized across the state boundaries that we get additional resources and not have to work so hard. We’re working hard already internally to manifest the enrollment,” Finch said.
The university asks students to apply on StarRez early. Officials plan to have rooms assigned by Monday, June 3.
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