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San Jose State Dorms Cannot Accommodate Huge Freshman Class

SAN JOSE (KCBS) - An enrollment boom at San Jose State University has resulted in a shortage of about 250 rooms for returning students, university officials said.

The roughly 4,000 freshmen expected to enroll this fall will be one of the largest ever and freshmen who live more than 30 miles away are required to live on campus, said university spokesman Pat Lopes-Harris.

"What we have done is triple up as many rooms as possible and when that did not yield enough space, we started to look at other options," she said.

The university has sometimes housed overflow freshmen in vacant apartment buildings within walking distance of campus. Lopes-Harris said this time no nearby apartments were available.

KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:

Instead some upperclassmen who thought their dorm assignments were guaranteed will be offered rooms in a business class hotel that could be a train ride away. The university is still in negotiations to select which hotel.

Student Tom Hebner said he felt let down by the news, delivered in an email shortly before orientation.

"Being in a dorm on the same floor with all your friends, that's what college is all about," he said.

"Staying in a hotel, it just wouldn't be the same college experience that I would have looked forward to when I was younger."

San Jose State adopted the on-campus housing requirement for incoming freshmen because of numerous studies showing a correlation between graduation rates and proximity of student housing to campus.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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