More upperclassmen to be placed in alternative housing for the 2026-27 academic year 

As student enrollment increases, Pitt upperclassmen are being presented with more alternative housing options as opposed to on-campus dorms and apartments. 

This school year, 600 students were placed in alternative housing, including the Hampton Inn, Webster Hall Apartments, Pennsylvania Apartments and Bridge on Forbes. The University will continue to lease third-party housing for the next academic year as well.

The class of 2029 is Pitt’s largest ever first-year class. University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said Pitt is on track to meet its goal of enrolling 22,000 undergraduate students by 2028 as part of the Plan for Pitt 2028. He said that with more students, Pitt is seeing increased demand for on-campus housing. 

“For the upcoming year, we leased an additional 148 beds for upperclass students at Wellington Apartments. We also expanded our current lease at the Bridge and converted the Hampton Inn to upperclass,” Stonesifer said.

The apartment and suite bid selection for the 2026-27 academic year took place between Feb. 17 and 19. General housing selection occurred on March 4 for rising juniors and between March 17 and 19 for rising sophomores. 

According to Stonesifer, every rising sophomore or junior eligible for guaranteed housing received a randomized housing selection lottery number in December, ranging from one to 7,600. 

Some students, like first-year natural gas, renewables and oil engineering major Connor Rennekamp, were happy with the results of on-campus housing selection. Rennekamp will live in the Franklin Apartments next year. 

“My friend, who I’m rooming with, got a good lottery number around the 300s, so we got to live in a decent place, but I can see how it would be frustrating for people who got unlucky with their lottery numbers,” Rennekamp said. 

Catalina Reiber, a first-year psychology and English writing major, had the lottery number 22 and will live in Bouquet Gardens next year. Though she was able to secure the housing she wanted, Reiber believes Pitt needs to improve its communication about the housing selection process. 

“The University needs to ensure that there is clear communication as to what housing they are offering the following year, how the lottery system works, when registration is, what happens if you don’t get a bid and how to move forward — whether you secure on-campus housing or not,” Reiber said. 

Reiber also said Pitt should keep the housing websites more up to date, so students have a clear picture of what their housing will look like next year. 

“They could do a better job at updating their website with pictures of dorms, amenities and other things so that students know exactly what they are moving into,” Reiber said. “I know many students who do have housing but have no clue what their housing for next year looks like due to a lack of pictures and descriptions.”

Aaliyah Pires, a first-year chemistry major, had a lottery number around 4,600 and ended up where she wanted, in a single dorm in Lothrop Hall. 

“Honestly, I think it worked out well for me. I got a pretty low lottery number, so I got the room I wanted,” Pires said. “But it sucked seeing my roommates with higher lottery numbers get stuck with the Hampton Inn or something that they can’t afford.” 

Shailene Dilone, a first-year communication science major, said she had a difficult experience with the housing lottery after she and her friends did not get a housing bid. 

”When I did general housing selection, I got stuck with the only last option, which was the Hampton Inn, but I can’t afford it,” Dilone said. “I’ve been asking Panther Central and Housing Services, but they’ve basically done nothing to help.” 

Ava Crossley, a first-year psychology major, also said she had a negative experience with the housing selection process and found an off-campus apartment instead. 

“I had an OK lottery number — 4,200 — and that was the lowest out of the three of us [roommates]. We wanted apartment-style living,” Crossley said. “Then, on the day the bids were released, my name wasn’t on the list.” 

Crossley believes that Pitt needs more housing to accommodate the number of students who want to live on campus.

“I don’t hate the idea of the lottery and points system, to be honest, it just really seems that they need more housing for sophomores and juniors, especially because most of us want apartment-style housing,” Crossley said.

Dilone said the housing selection process should factor in financial need, especially since some students are placed in housing they cannot afford. 

“I think that would remove the issue with a lot of people who can’t afford certain dorms being stuck with no option or looking for apartments, because that’s also super expensive,” Dilone said. “I think it’s overall unfair to over admit students and then not be able to accommodate them with what they need during a housing crisis.”

According to Stonesifer, students can request a room change after the fall term add/drop period when the University has a better idea of the available beds.