While Arizona State University’s in-person enrollment rates are higher than ever before, they are not reflective of the insufficient housing options available to its students.
The fall 2023 semester welcomed more than 144,800 undergraduate and graduate students, with over 80,000 attending on-campus classes, according to ASU’s enrollment projection.
The inadequate housing facilities available to these large numbers of incoming and current students have caused great distress among students, particularly those from the international student community.
“It is very difficult to find off-campus housing, and more importantly, affordable ones,” said Almaas Nouha, a junior from Malaysia studying Statistics at ASU.
Nouha also said interacting with strangers and finding potential roommates was just as challenging as securing on-campus housing.
Incoming students aren’t the only ones struggling to secure housing during the school year; the currently enrolled class faces the same issue.
With many students on housing waitlists on all four main ASU campuses, living off-campus has become a reality for many. On campuses with fewer housing options, like downtown Phoenix with Fusion on First and Gordon Commons, the only two dorms on campus, students are forced to look elsewhere for housing.
ASU’s Senior Program Coordinator for Off-Campus Housing and Relations, Shelby Epley, said the university made efforts to alleviate the housing concerns of its students by setting up Facebook and other social media groups.
These groups act as online community boards to help people post advertisements about looking for housing or roommates.
“Our official Facebook group is run by myself and members of the Student Media team,” Epley said.
However, there is an unintended consequence when using these platforms to secure housing: desperate students seeking affordable off-campus housing are more susceptible to online scams.
“While this is an account we monitor, there may be scams and spams within the group,” Epley said.
The university has also set up a dedicated online service called the Marketplace to help its students and faculty connect and find suitable accommodation options, including leases, subleases and roommate searches.
Epley said students must exercise caution while interacting with people online who claim to have housing availabilities despite being on the university’s marketplace website.
In addition to the social media boards and off-campus marketplace, ASU’s Victim-Survivor Services provides relief to students struggling with housing by connecting them with programs such as the Community Action Program to help with emergency rental assistance.
Another resource that the university offers is a Student Crisis Fund to assist students facing financial distress, such as that caused as a result of not finding affordable places to bunk off-campus.
Along with emergency funds, the university also provides students access to other necessities.
“The ASU pitchfork pantry is a great resource that can provide produce, groceries, and toiletries for free,” said Rosa, a program aide at the Victim-Survivor Services. Their Canvas module shows updated locations and times the pantry is available and shares additional resources such as clothing.”
While these programs support students experiencing housing crises, ASU has been working on creating new housing for the ever-growing student population.
Casa de Oro II, ASU’s new on-campus residential community, is scheduled to open in fall 2024 at the West Valley Campus. The double occupancy suite-style units have 507 total beds and are said to be ASU’s attempt to alleviate some of the housing concerns its students at the West Valley campus face. However, many students at the Downtown Phoenix campus have to continue their quest to find affordable off-campus housing as the school year progresses.
