A record-setting number of students feel the stress of competing for limited on-campus housing, pushing some to explore off-campus housing instead.
According to Undergraduate Admissions, 19,388 students are enrolled at UConn’s Storrs campus this year compared to only 18,567 in 2022. UConn also admitted 4,500 freshmen this year which is the largest amount in history. This increase in students heightens the competition for securing on-campus housing and raises concerns about where all of these students will live in the upcoming years.
UConn offers different on-campus options for students, from traditional dormitories to suites and apartments. However, these all fill up quickly due to UConn’s credit-based system, which allows students with more credits to select where they live first, leaving others with limited remaining options.
Alli Sidell, a nursing student at UConn, reflected on the stressful process of finding on-campus housing throughout her time at UConn.
Sidell said, “When I was a sophomore, it was like a fight to get the dorm you wanted. It was stressful because you didn’t know how many people had more credits than you and would take the place you wanted to live. I got lucky and my group was one of the last to get into Busby Suites.”
Other students are not as fortunate as Sidell and struggle to find on-campus housing that fits all their needs, so they opt for off-campus housing instead.
Lila Pinho, a junior at UConn, just signed a lease for an off-campus house for the upcoming year with her seven friends.
“I wanted to live off-campus because it’s way nicer [than the dorms], you get more space, and I’m able to live with everyone I want to live with,” Pinho said
Like Pinho, more and more students are choosing to live in off-campus apartments or houses surrounding Storrs. According to a senior leasing consultant for Celeron Apartments, Nicole Freeman, there’s even been a spike in freshmen and sophomore applicants for Celeron this year when in the past, there’s usually been a half-half mix of juniors and seniors living there.
UConn hosted an Off-Campus Housing Fair on Nov. 13, that gave students the opportunity to speak with representatives from different off-campus properties, like Oaks on the Square, Celeron Apartments, and Meadowbrook Gardens.
The representatives from different apartment complexes talked about the advantages of living off-campus as opposed to on-campus. Some of the advantages they explained included the ability to have more space, privacy, and freedom. A big part of this is because most on-campus housing options have Resident Assistants who monitor what you’re doing, what you keep in your room, and how you act. This can feel restricting for students, especially upperclassmen, who are looking for more freedom and space without someone telling them what to do.
Due to the new high demand for off-campus housing, a new student apartment complex, The Standard, is opening in fall 2025. This apartment complex offers amenities that you cannot find in on-campus housing like a 24-hour gym, a pool, and a dog park.
It is clear that off-campus housing is becoming more popular among UConn students, and with new apartment complexes coming to Storrs, it wouldn’t be a surprise if more students made the shift from on-campus to off-campus housing.