Jeff McDonald, Jr., of Maryville, Tenn., carries items for his UTC apartment while being followed by his dad, Jeff McDonald, Sr..UTC enrollment:Fall 2010 // Total: 10,781 // Freshmen: 1,948Fall 2011 // Total: 11,438 // Freshmen: 2,186Fall 2012 // Total: ~12,100 // Freshmen: ~2,300Fall 2013 // Total: ~12,250 // Freshmen: ~2,200Source: UTC
So many students are seeking housing at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that some are temporarily being put up at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo hotel and convention center. It’s the fourth consecutive year that students overflowed the dorms and spilled over into the hotel, but the problem has existed for longer than that.
And UTC is waiting for the state to show it the money.
The university has to demonstrate a need for new housing to receive additional state funding. UTC administrators have wanted a building capable of housing between 600 and 1,000 Mocs for the past six years.
“It takes two or three years, minimum, of having overflow before you can really build something anyway,” said Chuck Cantrell, associate vice chancellor.