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FAMU housing is full for the fall, with 600 students on the waiting list

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Florida A&M University’s fall 2024 housing recently filled up, leaving 600 students in reserve for the start of the upcoming semester on August 26.

At the same time, students lucky enough to secure a bed on campus through FAMU’s first-come, first-served application process include more than 1,500 newly admitted students — approximately 1,387 first-time college (FTIC) students and 124 transfers, said William E. Hudson Jr., FAMU’s vice president for student affairs.

Hudson sent a letter Monday to the FAMU National Alumni Association and its president Curtis Johnson about the housing updates. He called the number of new students admitted “encouraging news” and also noted the hundreds of students still waiting for available on-campus housing.

“Due to the overwhelming response from returning students, we have 600 additional registered and returning students who have submitted housing requests,” Hudson said in the letter.

The 600 returning students, including senior students such as third- and fourth-year students, are part of a total of 1,764 returning students who had registered.

“They have all been notified that they are on standby status as the housing team continues to monitor the allocation process throughout the summer as spaces become available through attrition and students cancel their reserved spaces.”

The capacity reached means that all available FAMU student housing, including the university-acquired apartments adjacent to campus – Rattler Pointes East and West in the former Citivue and Lighthouse at Brooklyn Yard complexes – is booked.

Two years ago, FAMU had a similarly long waiting list during the 2022 housing crisis, leaving 506 students without a bed on campus and forced to look for off-campus housing.

But FAMU is not the only university facing increasing student demand for on-campus housing.

Hudson says he met with the Florida State University System (SUS) on Thursday morning, along with vice presidents from other public universities in the state, where they discussed the issue.

“All universities, based on the information I’ve received, are having some of the same issues that we are,” Hudson told the Tallahassee Democrat on Thursday afternoon. “The biggest issue is that more and more seniors are wanting to live on campus because of the rising costs of living off campus.”

According to Hudson, other universities with similarly long waiting lists include the University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University.

Florida State University is also full and there are 200 students on the waiting list.

“We’re still getting some cancellations, and those openings are being filled as they come in,” FSU spokesperson Amy Farnum-Patronis told the Democrat on Thursday. “Throughout the summer, we encourage students on the waitlist to seek alternative housing off campus.”

New housing requirement for returning FAMU students amid ‘growing trend’

Although more and more students want to stay on campus, the housing procedure for returning FAMU students has changed this year.

Returning students at FAMU were required to register for fall classes in advance to be eligible for on-campus housing. The waiver from previous years is in addition to the requirements to submit a housing application for 2024-2025 and pay any student bills.

Early registration for fall courses allows the university to help manage enrollments, including determining how many courses are needed and hiring additional faculty and professors to teach the courses.

According to Hudson, the university saw a 31% drop in student loan debt and a 22% increase in early enrollments from returning students compared to the same period last year due to the registration requirement.

“For the first time, every returning student with a fall housing assignment is registered for fall classes,” Hudson said in the letter.

More than 1,000 registered returning students have been assigned on-campus housing for the fall.

Additionally, the University’s housing prioritization process prior to the fall included new FTIC students, grant students, Living Learning Communities (LLCs), and adjuncts, which together accounted for approximately 1,700 beds.

To give priority to FTIC students, all first-year students enrolled at FAMU this fall will live on campus for their first semester. This is a university requirement, with the exception of first-year students who live within 45 miles of campus, who may choose to live off-campus.

With the total number of students assigned to on-campus housing currently equaling the nearly 2,700 beds at FAMU, the university also has some big plans in the works to meet the growing demand for on-campus living.

The university is currently in phase two of its 700-bed dormitory project. The new building, located in the gravel parking lot at Osceola Street and South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is expected to open in the fall of 2025.

Two other projects in the pipeline are a 500-bed student residence at the former Gibbs Hall and Paddyfote Complex sites on Wahnish Way, and an 800-bed mixed-use apartment complex at the former Palmetto North site.

The three-part housing initiative will increase FAMU’s current on-campus bed count by 26%, the university said, which had about 9,800 students in fall 2023. Student enrollment is expected to be about 9,500 this fall.

Johnson, the president of the national alumni association, supports university officials in their efforts to address the high demand for student housing on campus.

“I think the university staff should be commended for having looked into this issue in the past, making some good adjustments and doing their utmost to provide housing for both freshmen and seniors who now want to live on campus, which is a growing trend,” Johnson told the Democrat on Thursday.

Tips from FAMU for students who are ready

The university has asked students who have been placed in a student house on campus to report any cancellations by Wednesday, July 17. Students who are on reserve will then have the opportunity to be placed in the student houses on campus in their place.

This time last year, the university’s waiting list was empty, thanks to more effective communication with students and parents.

More: FAMU’s student housing waitlist is empty, unlike last year. Here’s how they did it.

Although the university stopped placing students on the waitlist in May of last year, the cutoff date this time was July 17 to give returning students enough time to register for fall classes and submit housing applications.

Hudson says FAMU students on standby status are encouraged by the university to look for off-campus housing options on its website https://offcampushousing.famu.edu/.

On Thursday afternoon, the site contained information on over 207 available rental apartments off-campus, close to FAMU.

The university’s Venom Excess shuttle buses are also available for students who wish to travel to campus. Students can also ride public transportation in the city for free with their FAMU Rattler ID card.

“We still have a challenge, but I think the work that’s being done to acknowledge it, address it and put things in place – like building new dormitories for extra space – are all things that should be commended by this current administration in their approach to this issue,” Johnson said.

Contact Tarah Jean at [email protected] or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

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