TCU plans to expand residence halls in order to make space for all undergraduate students.

Chancellor Victor Boschini discussed the housing plans at the student town hall Wednesday morning.

Attendance for the in-person ‘town hall’ was limited to 25 students and had no virtual component.

Boschini answered student questions for about 30 minutes. Questions centered around financial aid, student housing and in-person classes next fall.

Financial aid

Some students wondered what TCU is doing to support its students during a time that poses many financial difficulties. Boschini assured them that they are doing everything possible to support students, including a tuition freeze.

“We reallocated our budget to carve out an extra $65 million in financial aid. A lot of students would write me [about financial hardships],… and we were able to help every kid we were aware of,” he said.

Boschini also said that any student facing financial hardships should reach out to financial aid and explain the situation.

On-campus housing

When asked by a student residential assistant about plans to improve underclassman housing availability, Boschini stated that the university intends on building more residence halls to improve the undergraduate student on-campus experience.

The addition of more residence halls could also allow TCU to allow students to live on campus for all four years of their undergraduate experience.

“The problem is we can’t build these new dorms fast enough, so for now it’s just freshmen and sophomores because we really only have enough room for that. Our goal would be to build enough housing for everyone. It’s just financially expensive,” said Boschini.

The chancellor also cited studies that have shown that the more residential a campus is, the better experience all students have when talking about housing plans.

Vaccination requirements

With classes expected to be all in-person next semester, TCU is considering requiring all students to be vaccinated. However, Boschini also said that vaccination requirements would not be necessary if herd immunity is achieved within the campus community.

“We feel that we won’t have to [require students to be vaccinated] if we can get to herd immunity. Once we get to that, we won’t have to require vaccinations,” Boschini said.

This would mean about 70 percent of students, faculty and staff would need to be vaccinated. 

Boschini again urged students to report back to TCU when they have received the vaccine. He also stated that he can’t require students to be vaccinated without approval by the state legislature.