Purdue To Take Drastic Measures To Solve Housing Problems

Source: (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — You always hear about colleges looking to increase enrollment numbers, but one Indiana college is looking to slow down admission rates.

Purdue University says it is feeling a significant strain when it comes to having enough housing for its students as a record amount of students come pouring in. There will be 52,000 students at Purdue for this fall semester.

Many of those students say they have had inconsistencies when it comes to plans for their room and board at the school just over a month from the start of the school year. This is likely due to the difficulties Purdue is having in finding enough space for students

Some students have been getting reassigned to different housing arrangements than what they had been told prior. Some of those also include the addition of another roommate they had not planned on living with. About 1,100 students have signed a petition demanding the school return them to their previous arrangements.

In response, the school is offering housing discounts of about $4,000 per student for them to stick with their new living arrangement. If they refuse the offer, they can return to their previous housing contracts.

President Muang Chang said on social media that even the addition of new dorms will not solve Purdue’s housing problems.

“Next year, new dorms approved last year will complete construction,” Chang said. ” But now … we must further refine housing solutions to all Boilermaker students this Fall: new ones as well as returning students. All units at the university are working extra hard today, to come up with a better and the best answer.”

Chang said the answer also lies in reducing the number of students they allow into the school.

“We will significantly further reduce the admissions rate, simply because housing and city capacities don’t grow as fast as demand for Purdue education,” Chiang said.

Purdue has boasted record enrollments largely in part because of its streak of freezing tuition for more than a decade. It was a staple left behind by former President Mitch Daniels. The cost of a Purdue education for in-state students goes for just under $10,000 a year. That’s nearly $29,000 for out-of-state students.