UConn is taking several impactful steps to increase and enhance its student housing options, with new plans to expand availability at Storrs and Stamford and to continue upgrades in older residential buildings where feasible on the flagship campus.

The Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved plans to lease a portion of The Oaks on the Square apartment development in Downtown Storrs for the next two years and will sublease the 384 units to students to add more than 600 bedrooms in support of enrollment growth.

In Stamford, UConn plans to add about 350 new student beds starting in July 2026 in apartments at 1201 Washington Blvd., not far from some of its current student housing at 900 Washington Blvd. and just down the street from the UConn Stamford campus.

The new agreements will bring the number of available beds to about 13,900 on or adjacent to the Storrs campus starting in fall 2025 and nearly 1,025 beds near the Stamford campus starting in the 2026-27 academic year.

The actions are part of UConn’s broader strategy that recognizes the strong link between students’ academic success and their sense of community — especially in the earliest years of their college careers, when living in residence halls can provide foundational supports and friendships.

At the same time, construction is expected to begin soon on apartment-style, privately developed housing near UConn Hartford that will provide about 200 beds for students at that campus starting in fall 2026. UConn is also reviewing the potential for access to student housing near the Avery Point campus.

Demand for student housing throughout UConn’s campuses has been strong in recent years. At Storrs, space constraints have occurred despite the opening of the new 657-bed Connecticut Hall last fall, the conversion of some lounges into living spaces, and other actions to increase capacity.

In fact, students identified desirable on-campus housing as one of their top priorities in a 2023 survey, with more than two-thirds of respondents ranking it as either first or second place.

That information helped UConn in the preparation of its Strategic Plan, which envisions desirable student housing as an integral part of holistic student success and the strength of its campus communities.

About 60% of the Storrs housing stock is 50 or more years old, so the University is also actively reinvesting the revenue it receives from student housing fees to improve the buildings, amenities, and other areas when possible.

In response to student demand, UConn recently replaced on-campus washers and dryers and next summer plans to replace dishwashers and stoves in its apartment-style housing. Bathrooms will also be renovated next summer in the East Campus and Hale dorms and partially in Ellsworth, with more scheduled to be updated in summer 2026.

Perhaps most notably, UConn plans to start multiyear plans to install air conditioning in part of the Northwest Residence Halls next summer, which house more than 1,000 students in an average year. The Board of Trustees approved the project Wednesday.

Robert Corbett, UConn’s interim associate vice president of university planning, design, and construction, says about 60% of the Storrs residence halls aren’t air-conditioned.

“Air conditioning was a luxury when these residence halls were constructed, but it’s become more of a staple now. For students who are new to UConn, many are used to their homes being air-conditioned, and, in fact, to having air conditioning almost everywhere they go,” Corbett recently told the Board of Trustees Student Life Committee.

Work will also take place over the next several summers to add air conditioning to lounges in the Northwest, North, Towers, West, South, Alumni, and East complexes.

In buildings where air conditioning can’t be added to bedrooms either due to structural or cost restrictions, having cooling in study lounges and some corridors should help add to students’ comfort, officials say.