Loyola may be growing too big too soon.

According to Robert Reed, assistant vice president for student affairs, Loyola is looking into new housing options to prevent overcrowding in the next couple years.

“If the projections are correct, next year we have enough capacity to handle the situation,” Reed said. “It would be the following years before the new residence hall comes on line that might be a problem.”

Some of the strategies discussed include filling all of the triple rooms in Biever Hall and converting the non-residential side of the 12th floor of Buddig Hall into dorm rooms.

The university is also looking into which residential halls can have floors added to them, according to Reed.

“One of the ideas is the 12th floor of Buddig. Could that be converted into student rooms?” Reed asked. “Could you add a floor to Carrollton? You’re talking about another 38 beds.”

Plans can’t be finalized because there is no telling whether enrollment projections will prove true or not, Reed said.

“We’re looking very closely at the projections, to see if the projections in terms of enrollment; enrollment in the residence halls particularly, is accurate,” Reed said.

The projected enrollment numbers for fulltime undergraduate students by fall 2014 is 3,200; 18 percent growth from Loyola’s current undergraduate enrollment, according to Salvadore Liberto, vice president for enrollment management.

“We expect the numbers to remain stable after fall 2014,” Liberto said.

There are many factors that can affect student enrollment. The economy, enrollment, off-campus housing prices and the types of facilities Loyola can offer are all major factors when making on campus residency projections, according to Reed.

“Those have to be checked, double checked, triple checked to see if they’re actually accurate,” Reed said.

Making a change to the off-campus living policy has not been considered, Reed said.

“We feel so strongly about becoming a residential campus and we think that’s so important in building a sense of community among students,” Reed said.

Students have not been rejected from living on campus for over two decades, according to Reed.

“We had a requirement we weren’t able to house local resident students,” Reed said. “We couldn’t house them because we had to give priority to out of town students because it’s required.”

The university is still looking into options to combat overcrowding, though no plans have been finalized so far.

“It’s just a plan right now, that’s all it is,” Reed said. “Hopefully people are able to look at it and play with it and poke at it and poke holes at it and maybe it will hold up and maybe it won’t. But we do the best that we can to plan for it.”

Sam Winstrom can be reached at [email protected]