SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah announced Tuesday that it is planning to build 5,000 additional student housing units over the next several years — a number that would double its current amount of on-campus housing.
The university said its goal is to add 5,000 "beds" by the year 2030.
Tuesday's announcement said this project aims to turn the "historically commuter campus into a campus community," explaining that more students at the U of U tend to live at home or in rented off-campus housing compared to other universities. University officials said the national average is 25 percent of students living on-campus; they expect enrollment to reach 40,000 by 2030, and if all goes according to plan, the U will match that percentage with 10,000 student housing units.
To achieve this goal, the university said it will form partnerships with a private company to build, finance and operate the new housing complexes. They will also plan to request "bonding authority" from the Utah State Legislature to independently finance up to 2,000 of these new units, with an estimated cost of up to $384 million.
Andrea Thomas, the university's "chief experience officer," says there are noticeable advantages to living on campus instead of commuting.
“Living on campus for just one year can boost everything from increased on-time graduation rates to a greater sense of belonging," she said in a press release. "New student housing is critical to our efforts to create that Utah Fresh first-year experience."
According to Thomas, the development will happen in phases in order to make the campus more livable during its construction.
Some of the housing will open as soon as this Fall semester.
"There's just a lot of momentum here and we're being proactive with the way we're addressing that," said Thomas. "It's a good time to be a Ute."
