Kennesaw State University as seen from Kennesaw Mountain. Date Unknown. Image Credit: Stephen Rahn
Campus looks a little different this year, and it’s leaving students frustrated and unheard.
Kennesaw State University’s recent rise in popularity has caused unforeseen consequences for current KSU students.
In an email communication, President Kathy Schwaig recently announced that for the first time in history, enrollment is expected to exceed 50,000 students. While increased college enrollment is positive in a larger context, struggles fought on the home front are leaving students feeling exhausted with Kennesaw State’s lack of proper accommodations.
As of Fall 2025, KSU has 5,900 beds across both the Kennesaw and Marietta campuses. With the current construction of the Summit II, housing exclusive to first-year students, beds are expected to increase to 6,300. This serves as a temporary replacement to an ever-increasing problem.
There are 16,216 parking spaces available across both campuses which students have access to by purchasing a parking permit. This is meant to accommodate the current student population of 48,000. According to US News, as fall of 2023, 86% of KSU students live off campus, making most students commuters. With a 6% population increase since then, parking shortages have only intensified. Students say they’ve been late to class due to spending long periods of time looking for available parking.
Frustrations have arisen amongst students and parents alike, as they’ve felt that paying for the permit should guarantee parking. When asked about parking, Joseph Wren, a commuter at KSU called it “Atrocious.” He said, “There’s a ton of parking and even more commuters. I’ve chosen to just not go to class some days because I circled multiple parking lots for over an hour”.
Kennesaw State Parking & Transportation later made a statement to permit holders stating, “There is a perception that we have oversold parking permits and that not enough parking is available on campus. To date, we have sold less parking permits this semester than we sold in Fall 2024.”
“There is still available capacity to meet current demand, but the start of each semester brings challenges.”
Despite KSU administration’s claims, frustrations with parking continue to be an ongoing problem, and it’s only expected to get worse as admissions rates rise. While some students are enduring the effects of an inadequate number of parking spaces, others are having a different crisis.
Housing is even more scarce. It is standard for most colleges to not have enough on-campus housing to accommodate every student, but at KSU, the gap in housing is growing alongside record enrollment. It’s well-known that college students across the country are experiencing a housing crisis. According to a study done in 2022 by StudentBeans, a student lifestyle website, 1/5 of U.S. students have faced housing insecurity. Even off-campus housing has its challenges, as many apartments surrounding Kennesaw campus have reviews of roach and rat infested apartments, lack of parking, over-pricing, and even gun violence.
Some students have grown too tired of KSU’s ever-growing problems that come along with it’s growth. KSU students have taken to social media to promote change at the university. @socialismatksu on Instagram has led various protests on campus and have expressed grievances with Kennesaw State’s lack of accommodations for it’s student population.
Some speculate that as the semester continues, attendance will substantially decrease, providing more parking spaces and less overcrowding. Others think that with a continuously growing student population, the problem will one day burst at its seams. Only time will tell.
