Housing crunch continues at Mizzou

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Despite opening three new residence halls this fall, the University of Missouri-Columbia will again lease space from two private apartment complexes to help house a large incoming class.

With some residence halls either closed or closing this year for renovations, the net gain for on-campus living will be 350 beds, said Frankie Minor, residential life director.

Originally, university housing officials thought an additional 400 beds at Campus View apartments -- generally referred to as Tiger Diggs -- would be sufficient. But later, the university decided to lease another 200 beds at Campus Lodge.

This year, about 5,700 freshmen are expected to show up on opening day, about 100 fewer than last fall's record-breaking class, according to July 1 estimates from Ann Korschgen, vice provost for enrollment management.

Forty percent more returning students have applied to live on campus this fall, Minor said, but he doesn't expect all of them to move in. He said some students arrange campus housing during the spring but later "convince Mom and Dad to let them move off campus."

The Tiger Diggs and Mizzou Quads offer students a chance to transition from residence halls to off-campus living. Located two miles from campus, they have apartment amenities like kitchens and washers and dryers, but university policies prohibiting smoking and drinking still apply.

"They're a good halfway point between campus and independent living," Minor said. "And in many cases, it's the only way parents will let them live off campus."

Calls to the apartments for University of Missouri police last year were not significantly different from the calls from other residential facilities, Capt. Brian Weimer said.

Minor said he believes on-campus living is more attractive to returning students because of a range of options the university provides. For example, new residence halls offer traditional rooms as well as four-person single suites.

"Students have become very good consumers," he said. "They know they've got options, and they explore what's best for them."