The lack of student housing is plaguing colleges and universities across the US. And The University of Utah is another university currently facing housing shortages.
The University of Utah has found a solution to its housing issues by paying alumni $5,000 each semester to let students live in their homes.
With about 600 students still lacking campus housing for the fall, the University of Utah is offering local alumni $5,000 per semester to board them. https://t.co/LX5me1uw8O pic.twitter.com/fdviwFKSec
— Inside Higher Ed (@insidehighered) July 22, 2022
“Home Away from Home” is the institution’s newest program offering sophomores, juniors and seniors places to stay in the homes of former University of Utah students who live near the campus.
According to a statement from the University, the program plans to match hosts to students based on similar interests.
The University’s waitlist for campus housing reached 3,500 students this spring. The institution has high hopes for the fall pilot housing program to place 100 students in 100 homes of alumni.
Bethany Hardwig from the University’s office of alumni relations told The Salt Lake Tribune some hosts would offer more privacy to students, providing an “in-law-style suite,” while other homeowners may provide one room within their house, Hardwig said.
“We have reached out to our staff and faculty and alumni within a 25-mile radius of the University of Utah,” Hardwig said.
Hardwig said roughly 130 alumni have already requested to participate for the coming school year.
Student safety is at the top of the universities list. To ensure the safety of both the students and homeowners, there will be background checks and screenings.
“There is an extensive screening process for both our alumni hosts and the students who will participate,” Hardwig said.
Despite the lack of housing, The University of Utah‘s president, Taylor Randall, plans to expand the institution’s population to more than 40,000 in the future.
