Largest freshman class in Chapman history strains housing selection process

University-provided housing is already full, leaving some upperclassmen in a panic to find alternative residence. Photo by SIMRAH AHMAD, staff photographer

Chapman University’s largest freshman class in existence is trying to find housing for next year.

So are rising juniors and seniors, but this year’s housing selection has proven to be more difficult than normal as more and more students are interested in living on campus, when there aren’t enough spaces to sufficiently accommodate everyone.

Some residence halls filled up in a matter of just a few days, leaving some unhappy students without a plan for where they are going to live next year.

The number of admitted and committed students for the class of 2026, now rising sophomores, increased by 16% in 2022. Now, many students are stressed about their living situations next year in response to the over-admittance of students that caused a rapid fill-up of university-provided housing.

Different residence halls provided by Chapman were filled within the first days of registration, such as The K Residence Hall, Chapman Grand Apartments and Davis and Harris Apartments. 

When students were assigned registration dates to choose buildings for the 2023-2024 academic school year, many were left with their backup choice or were forced to find off-campus instead.

The housing selection lasted from April 5 to April 14. As enrollment increased, the process has become more difficult.

On April 12, spaces at Panther Village Apartments and the Sandhu Residence Center were the only complexes with open spaces, according to Chapman Residence Life’s Instagram account. These buildings are two complexes out of seven that are provided to students. As of April 15, all residence halls are full.

Although Chapman does offer a shuttle service, each complex varies in price and distance from the university, and there are also different room capacities. These factors can cause problems for students who are on a budget or are without a car. 

Juan Tinoco, the new director of residence life and first year experience hired earlier this year, said that the limited housing this year was mainly caused by last year's over-admittance of rising sophomores, who get priority because of Chapman’s two-year housing requirement for freshmen and sophomore students.  

“The size of our rising sophomore class has impacted our operations, but we’ve tried to mitigate some of this,” Tinoco told The Panther. “We've actually offered folks who are rising second years an opportunity to petition out of the second-year housing requirement. We’ve tried to create a buffer for the application, but we’ve still had a very strong second-year housing interest.”

Those who do not receive Chapman-provided housing can be put on the housing interest list. Although some incoming juniors and seniors were left without the option of on-campus housing, Tinoco is confident that some spaces will open up during the summer. 

“Right now, it’s the housing crunch,” Tinoco said. “It’s the start of the process when we have the highest demand for housing. As the semester goes on and summer comes along, people's plans change. Some folks who are rising juniors, rising sophomores, might be looking at transferring. For some folks, Chapman housing is a backup plan, so we're optimistic that those spaces will open up and (that) we will be able to accommodate those folks on the housing interest list.”

Alexandra Zuch, a rising senior studying computer science, currently lives in a studio apartment at Chapman Grand, but she was not able to renew her lease for the upcoming school year. 

“I missed the renewal deadline, so I had to go through the (housing) process again,” Zuch said. “Currently, I’m placed in Panther Village in a studio, which I’m going to be honest, I was not excited for.” 

Zuch said she feels lucky to have received Chapman-provided housing, but by her April 12 registration date, there weren’t many options available to choose from.

“I got the very last single apartment they offered, which was lucky,” Zuch said. “It just felt like (Residence Life) knew they didn't have the housing, so they didn't care about me.”

Nicole Inoue, a rising sophomore business major, is living in Chapman Grand next year, along with a roommate. Although Inoue was a part of the class that received priority, she received a later registration date on April 11.

“Since I really wasn’t sure how many housing options would be left by the time it came to us, I was looking a lot off-campus,” Inoue said. “I was asking around (to) teammates, friends and parents if they knew of housing for two underclassmen in the area.” 

Although Inoue ended up receiving Chapman-provided housing, she had to resort to Chapman Grand, an apartment complex further away from campus. 

“I just wish that there were still cheaper options for on-campus housing because I feel like with sports and everything else that I want to do on campus, it would be a little bit easier for me, especially since I also work on campus,” Inoue said. 

To provide students with more housing resources, Chapman purchased the Anavia Apartments in Anaheim back in December. The apartments will be renamed Chapman Court and will be available for the 2024-2025 academic school year.

“One thing to keep in mind for next year is that we’re opening up our Chapman Court, the Anavia apartments,” Tinoco said. “So that's 850 to 900 housing spaces that are going to open up. I think next year, students are going to have way more options, which is something that we’re looking forward to.” 

After Chapman Court opens next year, the university will be able to reach the goal of housing 50% of all undergraduate students in Chapman-owned housing.