As interest in attending the University of Rhode Island continues to grow, the state’s flagship university said Wednesday it plans to build more student housing.
URI plans to lease state land on the Kingston campus to a private developer, which would then build and operate student housing on the land, the university said in a press release. URI said it hopes the deal with the Gilbane Development Company will eventually provide more than 1,100 additional student beds.
A report commissioned by the town of Narragansett and released earlier this year found that URI has not built enough housing for students, which has significantly altered the town’s housing market and contributed to a housing crunch for year-round residents. The university enrolled 17,511 total students in Fall 2021, according to the most recently available enrollment data submitted to the state Board of Education.
Ellen Reynolds, URI’s vice president for student affairs, says that many students choose to live off-campus and closer to the shore. But “if there’s a desire for students to live on campus,” Reynolds said, “we want to meet that need for them.”
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
