Indiana Uses Dorm Lounges to House Freshmen

For the third time in the past nine years, Indiana University is bracing for a freshman housing overload, preparing dorm lounges to hold an expected 100 students this fall, the Indiana Daily Student reports. There will be four students to a lounge room, with individual square footage roughly equal to those living in doubles. The lounges will serve as temporary housing as officials sort out fluctuating cancellations and room requests in the weeks before and after the start of class. IU has made room for up to 250 students.

In previous years, IU has cordoned off lounge space in 2006 and 2001—for 70 and 100 students, respectively—but were eventually able to get all those freshmen into regular rooms within a month. Officials partially blame the school's highest enrollment numbers on record for the overflow.