Lack of on-campus housing results in buy-outs, RAs rooming with freshmen

[Skipper]

In an effort to address a shortage of on-campus housing, UNT emailed current students a $1,000 buyout in exchange of their on-campus residency while some resident advisors currently have a freshman roommate.

Students that lived in single occupancy suites at Victory Hall, which are typically reserved for upperclassmen, received an email about the buyouts.

“I genuinely thought it was a scam,” said sophomore Christina Bridges. “I accepted the offer because I needed the money for the school year.”

Bridges said that in the long run her apartment living situation would be better due to its proximity to campus rather than having to make the commute from Victory Hall. Although the offer only stood at $1,000, students felt that the offer wasn’t enough.

“There should have been more offered, considering the fact that we pay more than $1000 to live in the dorms,” said Bridges. “Another difficulty is that we have to make monthly payments instead of just paying for it all at once.”

Tiffany Lipscomb, the associate director of freshmen recruitment, said that although the numbers won’t be official until the 12^th class day, the estimated number of incoming freshman is between 5,200 and 5,400 students.

UNT policy requires first year college students enrolled in more than nine hours to live on campus.

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