Apartments in store for some UTC students due to overcrowding - WRCBtv.com

CHATTANOOGA -

The new school year for UT Chattanooga students is just a few days away, before students embark on their college career in the classroom they have move into their dorms.

Overcrowding at UTC has become a re-occurring issue for the institution. Channel 3 records show since 2009 the campus has run out of rooms for students that want to live in their housing.

University officials said it's too early to determine enrollment numbers. However, preliminary numbers show that they are on track to break a record this school year.

This year, the school has a new plan to make room for freshman. The university said they rented out every single room at an apartment complex to accommodate students until more housing becomes available.

Thursday the new Mocs and their families load up carts and haul them into their new home. While most will move into a traditional dorm, others will get a less traditional experience.

"My mom researched it and saw that it happened last year and it usually happens every year, I wasn't really too worried about it,” freshman Reggie Ward said.
He is a part of a group of students that UTC could not accommodate them on campus. So instead, he will stay in a new apartment the university rented for the year.

"We’ll have RA's, we'll have a residence director, we'll be scheduling activities there. It will be just like living on campus to be honest it's right next door to our other housing,” explained Chuck Cantrell.
Cantrell works at UTC he said enrollment dropped three years ago but has steadily increased. Since then the housing shortage forced them to put students up in hotels around town.

"You have to have about five years of students living in hotels before you can make the argument to the state that you need to build another dorm,” Cantrell said.
UTC said they've met that benchmark and broke ground on a new residence hall that will hold about 600 students. However, that building won't be open until next fall. So in the meantime, students make this their home.

The apartments are brand new with all the amenities, it's not your typical dorm room, but Ward is okay with it.

"I came in here and I seen this, it was more than I expected, it's like some luxury!” Ward said.

Though this was the official, move-in day for students UTC officials said traffic will likely be busy on campus throughout the weekend.