Brian Gonzalez estimates that his commute from Fort Worth to the University of North Texas campus takes about one hour and 45 minutes. He uses his UNT identification to secure a free ride on the A-train, then settles in to do some reading for classes. After half an hour he switches trains and takes out the rest of his homework.
Despite the lengthy and crowded trip, Gonzalez, like many UNT students, chooses to commute from home to save money on the increasingly unaffordable housing prices in Denton.
Over the past decade, Denton’s population has risen by 24% or around 41,500 people according to census data from 2015 and 2025. At the same time, there has been a 23% increase in UNT’s estimated cost of attendance in the past ten years, according to the 2015 and 2024 fact sheets.
As UNT continues to enroll a larger population of students each year, the university has neglected to account for the increased need for housing. Since UNT is such a large part of Denton’s growing population, the administration has a responsibility to provide more, diverse housing accommodations rather than leave students struggling to pay their rent.
Diverse housing options could include on-campus housing exclusively for upperclass-students, housing-share programs, co-op communities, or commuter hostels and sleeping pods.
This chart uses data from the 2015-2016 UNT Fact Sheet (shown on the left in green) and 2024-2025 UNT Fact Sheet (shown on the right in blue).
As the chart depicts, although enrollment and faculty and staff populations have increased marginally, the on-campus housing has not increased nearly enough to accommodate these growing numbers.
While the university may not be directly responsible for the majority of Denton’s increasing housing prices, it is nonetheless a major contributor that has not taken any responsibility for the issue.
Recently, on-campus housing has only been able to accommodate freshmen, housing employees and some students with physical accommodations. In 2022, UNT could not even accommodate those students, and many stayed in hotels for much of their first semester.
This chart uses data from UNT’s fact sheets.
The most recent dorm built at UNT was Joe Greene Hall and it accommodates 500 students with a yearly cost of $7,044 for double occupancy suites.
Dorm costs currently range from $3,000 to $4,000 a semester not including parking or dining fees. At a minimum, the dorm costs are equivalent to $600 in rent for accommodations that, more often than not, do not provide individual bathrooms, living spaces or kitchens.
Students like Evan Travis who live at off-campus student housing such as UCentre at Fry Street, pay about $1,100 in individual rent for a triple occupancy apartment. This is a significantly higher cost than the dorms, and, despite its convenient local, is not an affordable price for most students.
Students like Ashley Gomez, who pays $2,056 in rent divided among four roommates, settle for affordable housing that is further away from campus. After commuting for several semesters from Royse City, Gomez felt she was missing the UNT campus culture and decided to get an apartment.
“I honestly wish I didn’t have to work multiple jobs and have roommates to afford my apartment, especially since it’s lower quality,” Gomez said. “If I think my apartment is expensive, I could not imagine the newer ones.”
Students that live in Denton often utilize buses provided by UNT through the Denton County Transportation Authority. Others brave the notoriously expensive and chaotic campus parking lots.
Although other college towns may have room to build more dorms and housing near or on campus, UNT has little space to develop more accommodations and is heavily restricted by antiquated zoning policies. However, more alternative and diverse options for existing housing could make it more affordable.
If UNT cannot make improvements to housing costs for students, then the administration should push pause on increasing student acceptance and enrollment each year.
UNT’s newest program, the North Texas Promise, will offer eight semesters tuition free to high achieve low income Texas. Although this program is generous and creates a culture of accessibility, it also incentivizes a large number of students to enroll in UNT and continue to increase the Denton population.
As UNT continues to actively contribute to Denton’s rising population, the university has a responsibility to provide quality housing for all students that wish to live in Denton. Without solutions to the ever-increasing student population, dorms will overcrowd, commuters will face more traffic and local students will struggle more to pay their rent.
No comments:
Post a Comment