Current first-year students might not be able to live on campus once they become juniors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Students were previously guaranteed on-campus housing for three years<\/a>, but Pitt recently changed the guarantee to two years<\/a> for current first-year students. This change follows increasing enrollment in line with the University\u2019s plan<\/a> to reach 22,000 undergraduate students by 2028.<\/p>\n According to University spokesperson Meredith Herndon, the University made this change due to rising demand<\/a> for \u201ca Pitt education.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe University is meeting that demand thoughtfully \u2014 recognizing that campus living supports academic success, community building and student connection,\u201d Herndon said.<\/p>\n The 2026-2027 first-year class size is estimated to be 5,200 students<\/a>. This is less than last academic year\u2019s record-breaking<\/a> 5,870 first-year students and more than the 4,589<\/a> first-year students in the 2024-2025 academic year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently, Pitt has offered on-campus housing to every student who requested it,\u201d Herndon said.<\/p>\n Samuel Tinnell, a first-year engineering student, expressed concern about the change. Although Tinnell is planning on moving off-campus by his junior year, he believes the change will negatively impact certain students.<\/p>\n \u201cOther people [don\u2019t] have the means to pay [rent] because they can\u2019t generate that money,\u201d Tinnell said. \u201cI would assume [the change] is pretty frustrating because your junior year, you\u2019re just left stranded.\u201d<\/p>\n Bouquet Gardens, an upperclass on-campus housing option, is $6,095<\/a> per term. Amos Hall, another upperclass housing option, is $5,700<\/a> per term for a single and $5,585<\/a> per term for a double.\u00a0<\/p>\n Webster Hall Apartments<\/a>, which is off-campus housing in North Oakland, is at least $1,910<\/a> per month for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,415<\/a> per month for a two-bedroom apartment. A one-bedroom apartment at University Commons<\/a> in South Oakland starts at $1,175<\/a> per month, and a two-bedroom apartment is $1,800<\/a> per month.<\/p>\n When sophomore biology major Shauna Arseneau was applying to colleges, financial aid and housing were her primary concerns, and universities with the longest amount of guaranteed housing were her top choices.<\/p>\n \u201cFor my financial aid package, it made more sense for me to stay on campus rather than pay more money to live off-campus,\u201d Arseneau said. \u201cNot having the [three year guarantee], or having it cut, would have really impacted where I chose to go \u2014 living on campus, having that meal plan, having all that included for cheap is really important for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n Annmarie Whiteman, a first-year rehabilitation science major, said she is planning on living off-campus by her junior year. However, she thinks the change will negatively affect a lot of students and deter some students from coming to Pitt.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like lots of kids rely on [guaranteed housing] \u2014 kids that won\u2019t be able to afford off-campus housing,\u201d Whiteman said. \u201cThat probably affected lots of kids applying here.\u201d<\/p>\n Claire Bacskai, a first-year pre-pharmacy student, said she didn\u2019t know much about the guaranteed housing change and that it most likely won\u2019t affect her housing situation.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel a certain way [about the guaranteed housing change] because I didn\u2019t even know that it was a change,\u201d Bacskai said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eric Blubaugh, a first-year applied mathematics major, was unaware that past classes received three years of guaranteed housing. He said he is disappointed about the change and thinks public universities should have guaranteed on-campus housing for all undergraduates, like at the University of California, Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that I know [guaranteed housing] could have been three [years], I\u2019m a little disappointed, especially with the housing in Pittsburgh,\u201d Blubaugh said. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to find places close to campus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Current first-year students might not be able to live on campus once they become juniors.\u00a0 Students were previously…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-275804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}