Editor’s Note: This article has been updated for accuracy.
Increased enrollment has caused a housing crisis for students as rent continues to climb in the Kennesaw area and demand for on-campus housing grows alongside it.
The Summit, a new student residence hall on the Kennesaw campus, was opened in August due to the increased demand for more on-campus student housing.
Currently, Kennesaw State has eight housing waitlists based on campus, classification and sex, all with varying lengths.
“We are actively placing students from the waitlist into on-campus housing,” deputy executive director of Housing and Residence Life Christopher Bruno said, “If a student is interested in on-campus housing for the fall, they should add themselves to a waitlist via the Housing Portal. They can also email housing@kennesaw.edu for more information.”
Living on campus has been shown to help build a community of students who are looking to stay involved and help each other succeed, according to data collected by the National Survey of Student Engagement reported by ACUHO-I. For this reason, more and more students are looking to live on campus during their enrollment at KSU.
“It’s closer to your classroom,” housing employee Lazarus Walker said, “There’s no commute and you get to see new people and new faces.”
Kennesaw State is one of the largest universities in Georgia, growing from almost 42,000 students in 2021 to more than 43,000 for the Fall 2022 semester. However, many campuses across metro Atlanta are facing the same housing crisis in their residence halls. Some students are opting to move back home and accept a daily commute as part of their routine.
Many students have said that off-campus rent and tuition combined are too much of a toll on their finances. But for disabled and neurodivergent students, a long commute is often not a viable option.
Across metro Atlanta, rent costs have increased by up to 83% in some areas. in 2021, Kennesaw’s median rent was approximated to be $1,347. This is 29.3% more expensive than the median rent in Georgia.
Freshmen have a total of six residence options: three on the Kennesaw campus and three on the Marietta campus. Upperclassmen, however, have four total options with two on each campus.
Students interested in living on-campus can explore their options and begin the application process through KSU’s Housing Portal. Applications open in December for first-year students and in January for upper-class students.
Important documents like the Resident Handbook regarding information for current residents including rules, regulations, how to access on-campus assistance and involvement opportunities are also available. Upcoming events in residence halls can also be tracked through the KSU Housing website.
