Many students at Texas Christian University have more than their classes on their minds — they’re struggling to find housing.
“Some of my friends were freaking out,” a TCU sophomore student said. “ They’re like, I'm homeless. Where am I going to live?”
TCU’s enrollment surge has led to a housing shortage, leaving many students frustrated. And a 2015 Fort Worth zoning law that limits off-campus housing units in the neighborhoods near TCU to no more than three unrelated roommates has worsened the situation, creating tension between the students, university and neighbors.
The growing number of students has outpaced the available housing on campus. In 2023, TCU’s undergraduate enrollment increased by 3.7%. This year, the undergraduate student population has increased by 1.2%, making the total number of undergraduate students 11,049, up from 7,853 in 2010 and 6,675 students in 2000.
Limited Options
Admitted students are required to live on campus their first two years. TCU guarantees on-campus housing in one of their nine residential commons. Sophomores have the option to live in dorms, on-campus apartments or Greek life chapter houses.
But the housing available is still not enough. Emily Shabonuv, a TCU junior, said she almost didn’t live on-campus last year.
“They accepted way too many kids and took sophomore dorms away and gave it to freshmen,” Shabonuv said.
Shabunov lives off-campus now as a third-year student. After sophomore year, students can continue to live on-campus, but housing is no longer promised. Most students plan to live off-campus in areas around the university. But the Fort Worth zoning law that limits the number of unrelated people who can live together limits the amount of available off-campus housing.
The law was passed in an effort to address “stealth dorms” — single-family homes that are rented by the bedroom — that were overcrowding the neighborhoods near TCU.
Julia Carl, a neighbor to TCU students, told The Fort Worth Report that she didn’t realize how many stealth dorms had been built in the surrounding area.
“I remember that those were houses and now they are stealth dorms,” Carl said. “ I thought it was only that area that they were developing like that.”
These homes can house up to seven students, leading to problems with noise, parking, looting and safety in the once quiet family friendly neighborhoods.
Neighbors voiced their frustration over the years on the non-emergency line, filing complaints to the city and posting on social media platforms like NextDoor.
And neighbors say they are still struggling with the same issues related to TCU students.
Conflict Resolution
Henry Adiletta, a landlord and TCU alumni who graduated in 2022, said he has become a liaison between the students living in his properties and the neighbors in the community. Adiletta said it helps alleviate conflict.
“We try very hard to be great neighbors with the community,” he said.
Adiletta said there are several housing options available near campus. He said many students are moving to nearby apartments.
Most of those apartments are not within walking distance of campus. And Shabunov, who’s from California, said living near campus is essential.
“If you're on campus and you don't have a car, I don't know how they expect you to get to class,” she said.
Houses that are walking distance from campus are limited. Some students even sign their leases two years in advance in fear of not finding a home later in their college careers.
Many students signing leases in advance are inheriting their housing from older students in their fraternity or sorority. Shabonuv said being involved in Greek life helped her find housing.
“I got lucky, obviously, because of my sorority,” Shabonuv said. “People not in Greek life would have a harder time because people in sorority and frats, like the seniors graduating, will just pass it down to the sophomores going into their junior year to live there.”
Many of these homes that are passed down were registered before the zoning law took effect in 2015, meaning they can house more than three unrelated students. Adlietta said these properties were registered with the city and grandfathered in when the zoning law was passed.
Grandfathered properties are abundant in the TCU neighborhoods. While living in these homes is not illegal, students face penalties from the neighbors who are unaware of the logistics of the law.
Conflicts between neighbors and students continue to be a persistent issue. The TCU Dean of Students, Karen Bell Morgan, published an article about encouraging residents to work out their differences with their student neighbors.
“Should any conflict or concern arise, consult your student neighbor and try to resolve it together,” Bell Morgan wrote.
Southern Methodist University journalism students and KERA are collaborating on a series of stories that explore challenges college students are facing in finding affordable housing while universities scramble for more living spaces to meet the diverse needs of growing enrollments.
