OPINION: Too Many Freshmen, Not Enough Housing
By: Katherine Mitchell | November 3, 2026
UAlbany definitely has a reason to celebrate its largest incoming freshman class in history.
More than 3,500 students joined the Class of 2030 this fall selected from more than 36,000 applications, a 20% increase in first year enrollment from last year.
But enrollment growth is not just a blanket statement achievement.
When thousands of freshmen arrive on campus only to discover there is not enough room for them to live comfortably, the university must answer; is it prepared to rightfully accommodate fair housing to the students it admits?
UAlbany should want to expand, and include students from every background with every interest, including people who may have never otherwise got the opportunity for higher education. But admitting more students than necessary without ensuring that housing will be in order makes these students bear the consequences of decisions they had little control over.
In an article by Isabelle Loginovs for The ASP, freshmen explained their struggles being assigned to temporary triple rooms this semester, including challenges with general privacy, storage and communication.
Some students were placed three to a room in spaces designed for two, leaving them to divide limited living space and storage among themselves.
UAlbany acknowledges on its website that “when class size increases beyond the normal capacity of Residential Life’s bed spaces, we use temporary housing to provide housing for all incoming students.”
Its housing guide explains that double rooms converted into triples have only two desks in the room with a bunk bed, while some roommates have to share an already small closet.
The university also promised a 20% room rate reduction for each week students remain in increased-occupancy housing until they are offered a standard-capacity assignment.
Though the university somewhat acknowledges the issue by offering this discount, what is offered does not create more space for residents or eliminate the difficulties of sharing a bedroom with too many roommates in a space that's too small.
The problems also extend beyond the room space, with students who work for residential life being left in the dark about the triple rooms. Adina Dalton, a resident assistant (RA) on Alumni Quad, told The ASP that she received little information about temporary triples before students arrived. She said she often could not answer students' questions about how long they would have to stay or who could move when space became available.
“We got very little information about anything going on,” Dalton said in the article.
Yes, Dalton is a resident director on Alumni Quad- where incoming freshmen were moved to as a last resort when there was no more cramming room for students in the on-campus Indigenous and State Quads.
Freshman should not have to live on Alumni Quad, especially when most freshmen are not from the area and would have to rely on public transport to get to class when they thought they could simply walk out of their room and be on the Uptown campus.
UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez said in an article on the university’s website:
“Our world-class faculty and dedicated staff will nurture this newest class of Great Danes, ensuring they have the resources, opportunities, and support they need to succeed in college and in their careers.”
Yet providing that support requires more than welcoming students and introducing them to campus life, it means the university should have been better prepared for the practical consequences of a growing student population.
The university's enrollment announcement highlighted new things added to campus with the purpose of investing in “student success,” like academic programs and the opening of Great Dane Apartments for upperclassmen.
These new initiatives prove that UAlbany is expanding opportunities for students, but hasn’t made sure their housing infrastructure can keep up the pace with its growing student body.
Expanding access to higher education is extremely important and worthwhile, but students should not have to bear the consequences for housing assignments that weren’t their fault.
UAlbany’s main focus when it comes to infrastructure should be about where the thousands of new students they decided to accept will live.
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