According to Housing and Residence administrators, around 200 UPJ housing students canceled enrollment from the fall to the spring term due to graduation, transfer and withdrawal.
This figure is higher than usual, although Residence Life director Mark Dougherty said that this is due to more graduations during this fall semester than what is common.
“We are up on the number (of vacancies) if you compare this year to last year. But there were more students graduating than we had in the past. For whatever reason, it just worked out that way,” said Dougherty.
According to Dougherty, approximately 65 students canceled housing due to graduation.
About 45 students transferring to other institutions accounted for 22.5 percent of cancellations. This is to be the case of freshman biology major Jared Mompoint, who said he plans to transfer to Rutgers University next fall.
“I enjoy being at UPJ; faculty and students here are very friendly, despite the weather. For my future, though, I feel like it won’t provide me with enough academic resources to continue and expand my knowledge.”
Withdrawals and academic issues also account for enrollment cancellation, including academic probations, expulsions, and financial issues.
Despite the vacancies, UPJ also welcomed 55 new students in its housing this semester.
As of January, UPJ has 22 vacancies in the College Park Apartments, 23 in the Living/Learning Center and 32 in the townhouses. The freshman dorms have 53 open spots, with most of them in Hickory, which has 17.
Dougherty said that the university as a whole experiences a decline in the student body from the fall to the spring term. Also, he said that even with higher attrition, the overall vacancy percentage is as expected.
“If you look at our fall to spring numbers over the last couple years, we always lose right around the same percentage. So our attrition is fairly consistent. A little higher this year, but some years it will be lower.”
“We are right around that number we budgeted on. We are about where we thought we would be.”