In a push for greater freshman housing on campus, construction on Kennesaw State’s Summit II housing complex began in March. According to a Kennesaw State press release, the building should be able to accommodate around 460 additional students when completed.
Keeping in line with its sister unit, The Summit I, Summit II will be chalked full of study spaces and “community areas,” as well as feature an outdoor area that will connect the Summit complexes.
Kennesaw State has begun to expand quite rapidly, with overall enrollment racing toward 50,000 students for fall of 2024. Freshman enrollment is no exception, as the university boasted its largest ever freshman class of almost 9,500 students, representing an increase of over 10% year over year.
Given this, calls for greater facilities on campus have been consistent, with housing naturally being one of the most significant. Evidently, administration has chosen to begin with first-year students.
In an email sent to The Sentinel from Kennesaw State’s Department of Housing and Residence Life, it was revealed that the project will come at a $50 million cost, including “the planning and design of the building and furniture and fixtures,” reflecting one of the university’s most significant commitments to solving housing issues on campus.
While details remain sparse, the department also cited maintaining housing affordability as a goal of the creation of Summit II, giving the project a dual mandate of keeping housing costs down, while also providing greater housing accessibility on campus.
The creation of Summit II is not an isolated event, but rather part of a concerted effort by administration to expand the university’s housing stock.
In that same email, the Department of Housing and Residence Life revealed its plans to help address the increase in freshmen students and its housing efforts.
“…there is a long-term plan to continue to increase the number of on-campus beds. We understand there is demand for more housing, and we are taking steps to offer more spaces for students.”
The department also confirmed that the university is actively exploring more housing developments for upperclassmen, the group most affected by lack of housing on campus.
Colin Grizzard, a freshman living at University Village Suits, a freshman housing complex, spoke on the disparity between first year and upperclassman housing.
“More upperclassmen housing would probably overall be better, since the amount of housing currently on KSU is so disproportionately freshman,” he said.
Grizzard also spoke on how, despite a good number of options and overrepresentation in housing, freshman units are still lower than they should be given the size of the freshmen class.
Wendy Gago, a freshman living at the Summit I, felt that the university’s priorities on housing were a bit misguided. She expressed her frustration with long waitlists she’s faced trying to get upperclassman housing, alluding to the idea that upperclassmen housing should be a greater point of expansion.
“If we need more freshman dorms…we can build more freshman dorms, but we really need more [upperclassmen] dorms.”
She continued, referencing the new Mickey Dunn Baseball stadium, a project primarily funded through private donations according to the university.
“Building a stadium…I think we should be building an [upperclassmen] dorm instead,” she said.
Gago also attempted to get at the heart of the issue, expressing concerns about the high number of freshmen admitted every year, saying, “If we’re taking in too many freshmen, I feel like that also does need to be curbed a little bit.”
According to US News and World Report, Kennesaw State’s acceptance rate stands at nearly 70%.
At a size of 97,000 square feet, the Summit II will join the 10 existing Kennesaw State residential communities in the fall of 2026.
