LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The University of Kentucky has been celebrating record enrollment recently. Last year, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said they had a record 6,100 first-year students. This year looks to be even bigger.
"This fall, we're anticipating, you don't know until everybody shows up in August for that first day of classes, but we're anticipating roughly 6,500 first-year students," Blanton said.
As those students show up in Lexington, of course, they have to have somewhere to live. That's where some parents say they've run into some bumps. Because of all those incoming students, they say they're finding out the university is running short on dorm rooms.
"We are working to manage the supply of housing we have with the demand," Blanton said.
Maria Addison Vejar said in a Facebook post that the dorms were a huge draw for a lot of students, but now expects her son will have to live off campus. Blanton says the university is working to accommodate everyone by modifying some of the suites.
"In some of our two-person, two-bedroom suites, we're going to bunk one of the bedrooms and offer that at a greatly-discounted rate - about $2,000 less than the usual price, and offer that as a three-person sort of suite in that two-bedroom configuration," Blanton said.
Blanton said they'll find a solution.
"We apologize for any inconvenience or anxiety it causes. I know students and families are excited, but they're also anxious. We're working through a process now to make sure we can accommodate the students who have applied and been admitted and want to try to live on campus," he said. "If they've applied and they've been admitted, and they've applied for housing, we're going to work through that process to accommodate them and get them housing. There are going to be rooms available. It may be a little different than what they've applied for or what they were hoping for initially, I should say, but we're working through that process and we'll get there."
