- FAMU secured a $97.5 million federal loan to build a 700-bed residence hall by fall 2025.
- In the meantime, it will prioritize an estimated incoming freshman class of 1,500 to 1,600 for its limited on-campus housing (2,600 beds).
- Watch now to hear from one student who was affected by the student housing shortage and how the university plans to prevent it from happening again.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Brand-new student housing is on the way, but what about the immediate future?
I'm Alberto Camargo in the College Town neighborhood.
Florida A&M University locked down funding to build its latest new residence hall on this lot behind me.
But it won't be ready until 2025.
I'm digging into how the university plans to tackle student housing in the meantime.
FAMU's on-campus housing shortage boiled over in 2022, when hundreds of students were left looking for off-campus housing on short notice.
One of those students was Ivan Starks.
"I had to go home. I had to figure out the process of going into online school."
Ivan says he missed out on the freshman year experience because of the housing shortage.
FAMU has made moves to prevent that from happening to more students like Issac, like buying nearby apartment complexes.
Now, the university has secured a $97.5 million dollar loan to build a 700-bed building in front of FAMU Towers.
But it won't be ready until 2025.
I asked FAMU's Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. William Husdson what the school's plan is for the upcoming school year, before any new beds are available.
He says the priority is to prevent more cases like Ivan.
"We want to make sure that incoming, first-time-in-college students have on-campus housing."
Dr. Hudson says the university expects about 1,500 to 1,600 incoming freshman in the fall.
With about 2,600 beds currently on campus, the remaining amount will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
"What we try to do is over communicate all of the strategies, the timelines, so that everyone understood, and no one can say they didn't know."
"I'm not expecting overnight success, but what I am expecting is for FAMU to continue their promises of being transparent, being open and being communicative."
Construction for the latest residence hall, known as FAMU Towers Phase II, is planned to start in March.
In College Town, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
