UH housing
falls shortRising enrollment and fewer
available beds leave 900 students
on a waiting list
University of Hawaii-Manoa junior Jon Shindo, of Kapolei, still doesn't know where he's going to live when classes begin in about a month.
He and three friends got their housing applications in on time but haven't been assigned a spot in the dorms.
And they're not alone. About 900 people who applied on time for housing remain on the waiting list for dorms and apartments, said Margit Watts, UH-Manoa student housing director.
"We're searching frantically," Shindo said. "More and more people are finding out there's no housing, and it's going to be even harder to find a place. Hopefully, we can find something cheaper than the dorms. It's crazy. I don't know what to do, unless housing is going to miraculously open up."
Watts said the problem is that enrollment at Manoa is up while the number of available beds has declined, creating an unusually large housing crunch.
"Our numbers are going up. We have more enrollment than we did before, and what comes with that is a need for more beds," she said.
But hotel rooms in Waikiki at the Ohana Reef hotel are no longer available to UH-Manoa and Kapiolani Community College students. The Gateway House dorm that was closed in January for repairs will be open for the fall, but there will be 22 fewer units because the rooms need further repairs that will not be completed until spring.
"A lot of students are very upset on Oahu because they're looking at not having housing, and they probably won't," Watts said.
This year priority for dorm space went to incoming freshmen. After those spots were filled, international, mainland and neighbor island students have the next priority.
Watts said there are still some overseas students who have not yet been assigned a space.
About 200 beds opened recently because students who were assigned to dorms did not put down a deposit on time. When a July 26 deadline passes, enough beds should be available to fill the need for overseas and Oahu students who are farthest away from campus, she said.
Most other Oahu students who are sophomores and higher will probably need to find other housing, Watts said.
Watts' office received about 4,000 applications for 3,000 beds this fall.
Students and parents who did not receive housing assignments have been flooding her office with calls. Watts said she is fielding 20 to 30 calls a day.
Students are upset that they were not told about the housing crunch.
"I'm getting the blunt end of all the screw-ups in housing," said Shindo, who also had to move out of International Gateway House in January. "It's not like we're getting this for free; we deserve some kind of courtesy call or notification. They're keeping everyone in the dark."
Now Shindo and his friends are having to compete for apartments in a tight and expensive Oahu rental market.
On-campus housing costs range from $2,903 to share a room at Johnson Hall for an academic year to $5,524 for a single room with bath at Hale Aloha Lokelani.
Jill Kobashigawa, a junior and Regents scholar, and her three roommates are applying for a three-bedroom apartment on Lime Street at $1,700 a month that will be split four ways, but they are trying to get another roommate to lower their costs.
"I'd rather live on campus, but if it comes down to it, I just want to be as close to campus as possible," she said.
Watts said the university is appealing for help from the community to solve the crisis. She is asking landlords, apartment owners, hotel operators and people with rooms to rent to contact the UH housing office so that she can refer students looking for rooms to them.
"We need all the help we can get," she said. "As fast as referrals come in, they're going out."