UNCW faces housing shortage for second year in a row

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — For the second year in a row, UNCW is receiving more students than it can house. 

At the university’s Board of Trustees Educational Planning and Programs Commitee meeting on Thursday, trustees received an update from Residence Life and Housing Director Kevin Meaney.

The university has to house 5,378 students this year. That’s 146 more students than beds. To remedy this, the university has partnered with the nearby Plato’s Lofts apartments to house additional students. 

It will also convert study rooms and other spaces into dorm rooms like it did last year.  

UNCW Chancellor Aswani Volety said as the university continues to break enrollment records each year, new residence halls will need to be constructed.  

“We really plan out over the next 5-10 years to make sure that every student that is coming here will have a bed and that it’s a great residence hall,” Volety said.  

Volety added that while the excess students present a challenge, it’s a positive sign that many of those applying to UNCW are eager to attend.  

“It’s never an exact science. You give admission to X number of students, and a fraction of those students actually come because they also have other options,” Volety explained. “But students coming to Wilmington is actually a good problem. It shows the quality of education and experience that UNCW provides its students.”  

UNCW Student Body President Skyler Stein agrees.  

“Having this issue, this is the school that I love. I stepped on this campus and knew this is where I wanted to be,” Stein recalled. “It makes me honestly feel better knowing that there are so many students that want to be a Seahawk and want to come to UNCW.”  

Last year, some students and parents had issues with overflow housing, like a lack of privacy in converted study rooms. But Stein said this year the board has taken those concerns into account.  

“Having overflow housing last year, we’re being aware of that and using those issues and making changes so that it’s better for the students incoming this year,” Stein said. 

And as Volety points out, unlike traditional freshman and sophomore students, transfer and international students have the choice to live off campus. 

“And they may actually choose to live off campus, so that opens up more beds. So that’s the reason why I’m saying we are very confident every student who wants a bed will have a bed,” Volety noted. 

The university has also released it’s Master Plan for the coming years, which you can read here.