UCLA Housing officials said they are prepared to house the additional 750 freshman and transfer students that will enroll this fall without additional beds.
New residential halls built in recent years and completed renovations of existing halls have opened room to house the new students. Officials will not need to make doubles into triples, said housing services director Sarah Quinn.
According to the terms of a budget deal with the state legislature last year, the UCs will enroll 5,000 more students across the system in exchange for $25 million. Each UC will enroll a different number of students, but all campuses have been making plans to accommodate the new students.
Some UC campuses will add beds to existing rooms and construct new buildings to accommodate their increased enrollment, but UCLA Housing is ready to give freshmen and transfer students their housing assignments in August, as planned.
At July’s UC Regents meeting, UC Santa Cruz presented plans to add 3,000 beds in a new residential community by 2018, and 360 beds in a temporary modular housing community by 2017. UC San Diego also presented plans to construct the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Community, which would include a dining area, classrooms, and 2,000 beds for students.
In 2011, university officials announced they would renovate one building each year until 2015 as part of the Student Housing Master Plan.
Delta Terrace finished renovations this summer, Saxon Suites finished in fall 2015, and Hitch Suites finished in the fall of 2014.
UCLA also built new halls in 2012 and 2013 – Sproul Cove and Landing, and De Neve Holly and Gardenia – which added about 1,500 beds, according to the Office of Residential Life website.
“We don’t necessarily have to convert (doubles to triples),” Quinn said. “We look at our inventory, check bed spaces and housing guarantees, then accordingly decide the room allocations.”
Quinn added that unlike other UC campuses, UCLA will not have to limit its housing guarantees, which guarantees three years of housing for incoming freshmen and one year for incoming transfer students.
Additionally, UCLA Housing is working with the Office of Residential Life to distribute the additional 750 students evenly across all the dorms, Quinn said.
“The (on-campus) population is not more dense than in the past,” she said. “During the first three weeks, when students are figuring out their classes, there is bound to be a little bit of crowding (in common areas).”
She added she thinks as students figure out their schedules and get into a routine, the problem of crowding clears up naturally.
UCLA will have to accommodate even more students in the 2017-2018 academic year when the UC enrolls another 2,500 students across the nine undergraduate campuses. A budget deal with the state legislature will provide an additional $18.5 million to the UC in exchange for the increased enrollment.
Quinn said UCLA Housing will plan for the 2017-2018 year based on this year’s increase and will work with the UC Office of the President to best accommodate students.
Contributing reports from Kuhelika Ghosh, Features and student life editor.