LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – As Texas Tech University celebrates record-breaking enrollment, it\u2019s working through the growing pains of making space for nearly 46,000 Red Raiders.<\/p>\n
Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said the university projected about 2,000 additional students would start classes this year, but they ended up with closer to 4,000 students enrolled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spend a lot of time talking about planning and how we strategize to accommodate next year\u2019s class, but this is larger than we even anticipated,\u201d Schovanec said.<\/p>\n
Schovanec said the impact of the success of athletics cannot be discounted. Plus, more than 15,000 people applied during a 10-day window in October when the Apply Texas process was free.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was sort of just a perfect storm of awareness and excitement about what was going on at Texas Tech,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While the record-breaking enrollment is exciting, students say they are feeling the squeeze.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel like there\u2019s a lot of people everywhere,\u201d freshman Olivia Kissinger said.<\/p>\n
\u201cParking, can\u2019t get a spot. My class is over-seated, I had to stand in the back of class at one point,\u201d Moses Lim, another freshman, said.<\/p>\n
Still, Schovanec says Texas Tech is ready to handle this many students.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yes, we are. But you might say, well, if you were, did everybody who wanted to live on campus get a bed? And the answer is no.\u201d<\/p>\n
While 95% of first-year students live on campus, the university was 1,000 beds short of demand. Those students are living in university-supported housing off campus.<\/p>\n
Schovanec said the school\u2019s regents have already approved construction of a new residence hall on 19th Street. Students are expected to move in there in the spring of 2029.<\/p>\n
When that happens, Schovanec said Tech will demolish the Horn\/Knapp dorm. A new dorm will be built there, with a net increase of about 1,300 beds.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the next couple years, we\u2019ll have to manage this the best we can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Schovanec said a new parking garage will be built near 19th Street and University Avenue. Another will come with the new dorm at the current Horn\/Knapp site.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m 100th on the waitlist to park my car like by my dorm, so I have to park it actually by the soccer fields and I have to take like two buses to get back to my dorm,\u201d freshman Sloane Bowie said.<\/p>\n
Before those parking garages are constructed, Schovanec says students will have to get used to the system of parking out west and riding the bus.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday and today, I went and drove around on campus just to see what it looked like in the parking lots. And there are spots available. They may not be where the students want to park. If they want to park in front of Holden Hall, it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Regarding students saying they had to stand in class this week, Schovanec said the university does not overbook rooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have 45,000 people here, there\u2019s going to be some hiccups the first week. And I\u2019m sure that if a person really was confronted with that problem, it was probably fixed right away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The university is laying out plans for a new agriculture sciences building, a new design and architecture building, and additional space for the Rawls College of Business.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, do we have the infrastructure to accommodate this growth? Yes, we will,\u201d Schovanec said.<\/p>\n
He said the world needs more Red Raiders, but it\u2019s essential Texas Tech never loses what makes it special in the process.<\/p>\n
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