Rutgers—Newark implements waitlist for housing
Rutgers—Newark, which enrolled its largest combined first-year and transfer class to date in Fall 2024, saw its first housing waitlist in the campus's history.
All rooms in the Newark campus's five residence halls and one family housing unit are occupied, according to a staff member in the University's Housing and Residence Life Office. They said the Office is reaching out to students to confirm whether they are or will be living on campus.
As rooms are cleared, they can be assigned to students on the waitlist, they said. According to the staff member, some students receive housing but neglect to inform the University that they will not be residing on campus.
The staff member in the Housing and Residence Life Office said the first-year class was larger than usual at Rutgers—Newark. Typically, she said, first-years are given housing in Woodward Hall, but after more than 2,660 first-years enrolled in the Fall 2024 semester, the housing office placed them in University Square, a residence hall that usually houses upperclassmen.
Courtney McAnuff, the vice chancellor of enrollment management at Rutgers—New Brunswick, attributed the influx of students to the University's adoption of the Common Application.
Ayoko Kessouagni, a Rutgers Business School—Newark graduate student, said she applied for housing when the application was released at the end of the Spring 2024 semester. When she called in August to inquire about housing, University officials reportedly told her there was no available housing at the time, and Kessouagni was placed on the waitlist.
Kessouagni currently lives at home in Newark, "about 20 minutes or more" from campus, and expects to commute for the remainder of the semester.
"It is quite far," she said. "I don't know how to drive, and I'm not able to get here. So most of the time, I'm walking to school or to my classes, and sometimes, my mom helps me out by driving me here."
A staff member in the Housing and Residence Life Office said they are uncertain when housing would be available for waitlisted students.
