Iowa State Offers $1,000 To Students Not To Live In Dorms Due To Record Enrollment

$1,000 For Students To Not To Live In Dorms
FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2012 file photo students walk past the Campanile on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa Board of Regents voted Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 not to raise tuition charges for in-state undergraduate students for next school year. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2012 file photo students walk past the Campanile on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa Board of Regents voted Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 not to raise tuition charges for in-state undergraduate students for next school year. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Iowa State University is offering students $1,000 not to live in its dorms. But the move is not necessarily due to the popularity of the Ames, Iowa, residence halls -- it's the downside of experiencing record enrollment levels.

The university shot out an email in June offering $500 to any returning students willing to give up their dorm and switch to a university-owned apartment, the Des Moines Register reports. That wasn't enough, students complained, so ISU upped the amount to $1,000, which 95 students accepted. The goal was to free up more traditional housing for incoming freshmen.

The university will have an estimated 32,000 students enrolling this fall, up from 25,462 in 2005. ISU expects 11,300 to live in campus housing, a 7 percent increase from last year, according to the Des Moines Register.

Another 100 students still waiting for a room assignment will get $500 in compensation for their inconvenience, ISU said.

The university also secured a number of off-campus apartments to provide housing for students it didn't have room for in its regular dorms, something the University of Iowa also did in 2010 due to record enrollment.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article suggested the university offered $1,000 payout to students to not live on campus, it is actually a $1,000 off the student's bill to live in university-owned apartments instead of a traditional dorm.

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