Meanwhile, nearly 700 freshmen were put on a waiting list this fall with the closure of the old Ogg Hall and its 950 beds, according to UW Housing Director Paul Evans.
UW is the only Big Ten school unable to guarantee housing for all first-year students on campus and has struggled to keep up with growing attendance numbers.
"It puts us at a competitive disadvantage, looking at Illinois, Michigan, Iowa or Minnesota," Evans said. "If we can't offer it, maybe they'll go somewhere else."
The biennial state budget will determine whether the university can break ground on ambitious housing plans on the Lakeshore to add 500 beds by 2012. The Senate's version of the budget currently includes the go-ahead, but the Republican-controlled Assembly has removed the projects.
Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, said the passage of the budget with the housing plans would further the financial burden on students for an initiative not directly linked to academics.
"We're encountering an era with limited resources — we're running up the credit cards of the state in order to bond for these facilities," Stone said. "The private market will build housing –we don't need to spend money. I think it ought to be the last priority, and we should be focusing on academics."
Although modern, Evans said he doesn't believe the new buildings fit the "luxurious" label being negatively fit to them by some lawmakers.
"They are certainly nice, but they still have tile floors and similar furniture," Evans said. "The luxurious part is the academic side with two classrooms, and the two tutoring rooms (in Ogg)."
Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said he's disappointed the Assembly removed the dorm program funding from the budget but is hopeful it may still re-enter the budget before it reaches the governor’s desk.
"I think some of my colleagues are a little out of touch," Hintz said. "If we're competing with other universities for the best students, we need to keep our flagship campus up-to-date to promote the best learning environment possible."
One student who was faced with finding alternative living arrangements was incoming freshman Stephanie Braun. When Braun was accepted to the university she assumed she would receive an on-campus dorm room, but when she still hadn't heard from UW Housing in June, she called and was told she was placed on a waiting list and should have received an e-mail.
"I just wish I had ample warning," Braun said. "I just was upset that no one contacted me, I had nothing on paper — I'm still bitter it wasn't handled very well."
Braun said she then had to take an emergency trip to Madison to search for housing and eventually found a vacancy in a private residence hall.
According to Keri Robbins, director of University Housing Marketing, of the 700 students on the waiting list, a large number find spaces during the late summer months.
"Around 300 students sign housing contracts and then decide to attend a different university or live off-campus, freeing up spaces," Robbins said. "They also can count on handfuls of students getting homesick or leaving the university early in the year."
There are also 75 students who get placed in expanded housing where lounge or study areas are converted to rooms to hold four people.
Evans said UW is in the process of analyzing other options in case the new project funding is denied in the final budget this year. At one point, he said, they considered saving one of the old Ogg towers. But that idea is no longer on the table with demolition in process this fall.
