Overbooked housing leads Pitt to rent hotel, apartments for students

Hundreds of students attending the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland will live in a hotel or apartments this fall, a move university officials say they made to accommodate the large, incoming freshmen class.

Pitt received a record number of applications for the fall semester — 65,000 — which is a 6% increase from last year.

Housing assignments have been shared for the majority of that incoming class, said university spokesman Jared Stonesifer. He expects additional housing assignments to be sent to students later this week.

Pitt has leased space for more than 400 additional beds, he said. Those locations include Webster Apartments at 101 N. Dithridge St., the Hampton Inn at 3315 Hamlet St. and Pennsylvania Apartments at 300 N. Dithridge St.

The university also added nearly 300 beds by reconfiguring existing facilities, like the recently renovated Franklin Apartments at 305 Atwood St.

“This approach enabled the university to accommodate students while ensuring they remain close to classes, dining, events and student life resources,” Stonesifer said.

“All locations are less than a mile from the heart of campus and meet the university’s standards for safety, amenities and access to campus resources.”

Students admitted to Pitt for the fall semester of their first year are guaranteed on-campus housing through their junior year, as long as they meet the academic and eligibility requirements, Stonesifer said.

He also said the leased spaces “are as close or closer to” campus than some of Pitt’s regular dorms or residence halls. Students living in the leased spaces have a residents’ assistant and all other supports they’d have in a dormitory or residence hall, Stonesifer said.

Stonesifer attributes the record number of applications to high interest in, and a growing demand for, a Pitt education. He referenced Forbes earlier this year naming Pitt as a “New Ivy” and the Princeton Review recently recognizing the university as one of the nation’s “best value colleges.”