Freshmen students living in Biever hall are going to be really close to one another – literally.

With the growing number of freshmen expected to live on campus next fall, Residential Life is changing its housing policies to ensure adequate living space for everyone.

According to Craig Beebe, director of Residential Life, the university is planning on filling every residential building in the 2010 – 2011 school year.

“If we get the number of returning students and the number of new incoming students that we’re anticipating, it’s possible we could be slightly over capacity for the fall,” Beebe said.

“When I say slightly over capacity, I’m talking about 1 or 2 percent over capacity.”

To prepare for the incoming class, Residential Life will offer the option for freshmen to live three to a room in Biever Hall.

 The freshmen who choose this option will be offered a 15 percent discount from room and board.

“Families tend to respond really positively to this,” Beebe said.

“We think that a lot of families would happily take advantage of this opportunity to triple up and take that 15 percent discount on the overall housing rate.”

Alternatives to the triple room were discussed, but living three to a room was seen as the best course of action.

 “We could go rent a hotel for a year; which schools do sometimes,” Beebe said.

“That would be a reasonable option if we were talking about hundreds of students more than we could really accommodate.”

Last year, Loyola began housing two students per suite in Cabra Hall to make room for its growing freshman class.

In recent years, Loyola has not needed to resort to that option.

The student population declined following Hurricane Katrina, giving the university the temporary ability to put students one to a suite in Cabra.

But according to Beebe, assigning two students to a suite in Cabra must now become standard procedure.

“With our new incoming class we’re getting up to pre-Katrina numbers and we have to use the building as it was built, with two beds in a room,” Beebe said.

Loyola does not plan on changing its policy that students must live on campus for the first two years at the university.

“We really want students living on campus even if that puts us at capacity or a little bit above in the residence halls,” Beebe said.

Residential Life is putting together information for students who choose to live off campus.

“We’ve been working on gathering resources for a few months here just on making sure we can communicate things like land lord tenant laws to students in a way that’s meaningful.”

Residential Life will not know the exact number of freshmen living on campus until May 1.

“It’s very possible that we won’t triple at all,” Beebe said.

“We’re just thinking ahead and making sure that we have a plan if we get to that point.”

Sam Winstrom can be reached at [email protected]