It took six months, until mid-August, for me and my roommate to receive housing information. This summer was filled with stressful planning and setbacks as we claimed an ever-decreasing number of dorms. By the time our selection time arrived, none of our desired options were available. I couldn't even consider outside housing in the short term because Boston apartments are limited and too expensive in current seller's market. With the new school year fast approaching, one might assume that the simple question “Where will you be living next year?” it would already have been answered by the end of the spring semester. Unfortunately, despite the North East providing higher classes students with choice number on February 4th, my status remained uncertain until a few weeks before the first day of classes.
According to Northeastern's Housing & Residential Life, “undergraduate students entering as freshmen through fall admission and NUin will live in university accommodation during their first and second year.” Since sophomores must live on campus, students had to choose housing based on random assignment lottery numbers ranging from 3,001 to 9,998. Northeastern's housing website states that students are assigned only through it Provide assistance with staffor PAWS, edit if they did not select their room within their short selection window. But this year, many students had no choice but to do so Paws edit, process. The PAWS program makes the university choose the student residence for the next school year based on a preference form, where students can indicate their preferred housing situation.
The past years, approx 25% of students were placed through PAWS. However, today Northeastern no longer has enough capacity for the growing number of undergraduate students. My roommate and I had a number of 6,000, which is right in the middle of the lottery numbers, yet we had to fill out the PAWS form because there was no other housing option. Furthermore, even though International Village, or IVpreviously consisted of single or double rooms, Northeastern decided to go almost 900 beds in the East Village, or EV, and IV dorms, turning singles into doubles and doubles into triples. This decision can create an uncomfortable living condition as there is not enough physical space, which can lead to students feel overwhelmed.
Some students hoped the university heard them previous requests for increased attention to the housing crisis. However, as the new school year approaches, I personally feel that none of the previous complaints from my classmates or myself have been addressed. The fall housing selection process was so frustrating and students could do nothing but wait for the university to provide housing.
Northeastern has sought to acknowledge the current overcrowding crisis by admitting fewer students than ever before. However, shrinking the university is not the answer. Northeastern University Class of 2025 acceptance rate was 18.38%. For the class of 2026, the acceptance rate decreased to 6.7%after receiving a record 90,000 applicants. Rejecting prospective students for the sake of accommodation capacity is not a sustainable admissions model for the university. The current housing situation must be addressed immediately because squeezing returning and incoming students into small living spaces will likely lead to greater student frustration.
Northeastern is in the process of building another advanced science and engineering research building called EXPIRY on the Boston campus, which accompanies the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex, or ISEC. The new 350,000 sq. ft. research building it costs $300 million, yet only benefits a small percentage of Northeastern's student population. According to Northeastern's registrations 2021, the majority of full-time undergraduate students are part of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business and not the Colleges of Engineering or Science. Northeastern needs to make a similar investment in building more apartment buildings in order to handle the current housing issue.
Since the university has the financial capital to build large facilities, they should redirect these resources towards creating a more comfortable and welcoming housing environment for their students. If they don't act now, Northeastern will only exacerbate the future housing crisis.
Rachel Umansky-Castro is a sophomore criminal justice and journalism major with a minor in communications. You can reach her at [email protected].
