After some UConn students were waitlisted for on-campus housing next year, parents are speaking out, saying the decision is unfair and not what they were promised when their students were first enrolled.
“UConn should really be ashamed,” said Karen Haueisen, of Norton, Massachusetts, whose daughter is a rising junior at UConn.
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WATCH HEREHaueisen was shocked when her daughter received an email last Friday that said she was waitlisted for on-campus housing for the upcoming junior year. Haueisen said her daughter was told she didn’t meet the criteria.
“She’s a good student, she’s on the Dean’s List, she’s active on campus,” Haueisen said. “She met the deadlines on time to get her application in to live on campus again. So, I don’t really understand what criteria she’s missing to not get housing again.”
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SIGN UP Erica has been living on the Storrs campus since her freshman year. Haueisen said her class was guaranteed on-campus housing for all four years.
“During orientation, we saw a slide put on by Residence Life that said students had eight semesters of housing while they’re at UConn. That is one of the things that attracted my daughter to UConn. She has no desire to live off-campus,” she said.
That promise of eight semesters of on-campus housing also attracted Danielle, who wants to remain anonymous. Her son is a rising junior who was also waitlisted.
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“They were guaranteed housing as freshman. Guaranteed eight semesters of housing,” Danielle said. “There was a criteria, but my son meets all the criteria. I believe it was your grades, keep your grades up, I know sending the application in on time, don’t cause any trouble, no marks against them, and he’s met all that criteria.”
Haueisen is among the parents who emailed UConn leadership. In response, the assistant vice president of Student Life said in an email, “As referenced in the email notifications sent to students and parents in December, not all students who applied would be guaranteed housing for the upcoming year. Although many upper division students applied by the deadline, the demand for housing surpassed the number of available spaces for upper division students.”
According to a UConn spokesperson, the university has 25,304 undergraduates this year, up from 23,837 three years ago, including 13,890 who live in on-campus housing, up from 12,373 living on-campus three years ago.
The spokesperson said in a statement to NBC Connecticut in part, “…eligibility to live in residential housing is not guaranteed for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors and is based on multiple factors including space availability, primary campus designation, and academic standing. Last year, the University was able to offer housing to those on the wait list as other students’ plans changed and beds became available. We anticipate the same trend this year, given the off-campus options opening and the regular “melt,” or reduction of students, that occurs at the start of a new semester.”
The spokesperson pointed to off-campus developments in the works, that will help relieve the housing issue. But these parents said they can’t afford to put their students up in an apartment with the rising cost of rents.
“It would definitely be a financial strain on our family to get an apartment, to furnish the apartment, utilities, pay rent, and she would probably need a car as well to get to campus,” Haueisen said. “It is a huge financial burden. It would be on my family and I’m sure many other families as well. We didn’t plan for this, and UConn made a promise to us, and there’s a lot of upheaval right now because of this.”
In 2023, UConn decided to forgo its offer of eight semesters of housing for all students and reduced that number to six. But hours later, reversed that decision.
“I just need it to be known that this is wrong. It’s wrong,” Danielle added. “They guaranteed it. I’m OK with change, I can roll with change, but they should honor what they guaranteed to their students and families. I want them to right their wrong and what’s right by their word and give these kids back their housing like they deserve.”
