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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A good question to ask when touring schools or when reps visit. [/quote]

I was surprised how few upperclassmen at U Mich live on campus. When you have huge universities, they just don’t have a lot of housing stock relative to the size of the student population [/quote]

Why though? Has the student population grown quickly? Are dorms a net loss for schools because kids don’t pay enough to cover the costs? I get that city schools might not have the space to add but why haven’t schools in college towns added the dorm capacity they need?[/quote]

You could look up the actual numbers, but Umich has added like 15,000 students in the past 25 years and only added something like 1500 dorm rooms during that time. Plus when you add students, you add supporting staff. Plus the university hospital system has expanded. Plus until the last few years you had an anti-development city council and NIMBY voters. Housing in Ann Arbor is a mess.

It's getting fixed. For fall 2026 several new Umich dorms are coming online (~2300 beds). A second phase of new dorms (timeline not announced) will add another 2000+ beds. City council has turned over and there's been and will continue to be large-scale housing construction. Lots of private student-focused high-rises -- a few thousand beds in the past few years and another 5000 beds opening in the next 3 years.

I don't think Umich has been the total nightmare that some other schools have been, but for anyone other than freshman the choices have been nasty slum stuff within walking distance, nicer and cheaper places farther out that mean a commute (decent bus system), or the expensive high-rises.

I personally am hopeful all the new construction will help Ann Arbor as a whole, not just Umich students.

(Parent of Umich undergrad who lives in Detroit suburbs and follows Ann Arbor housing issues.)

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