Every spring at Howard University, a familiar anxiety returns for rising juniors and seniors: the Fall Housing Application. 

For many, this moment signals the end of living within the relative stability of university-managed housing and the beginning of a scramble to secure safe, affordable, and accessible off-campus accommodations. Students often enter this process without meaningful guidance, professional support, or any structured introduction to the realities of the Washington, D.C. housing market.

This year, the University welcomed its largest freshman class in history: more than 2,700 students, following a record-breaking 37,000 undergraduate applications, a 12% increase in applicant volume, and an acceptance rate of 30–32%. Howard’s national visibility, strengthened recruitment efforts, and increasing prestige have all contributed to this surge. From an outsider perspective, at first glance it would appear Howard is looking to fill up some much needed empty space. 

The reality is quite the opposite.

Howard maintains just 5,423 on-campus beds, while undergraduate enrollment surpasses 11,500 students. Even when including the 900 beds leased from private partners, total capacity reaches only about 6,200. If every one of those beds went to upperclassmen rather than freshmen and sophomores, 119 students would still be left without any housing at all. In actual practice, once Howard fulfills its guarantee to first- and second-year students, only about 1,000 beds remain for juniors and seniors. As a result, more than 84 percent of upperclassmen, over 5,300 students each year, must secure housing off campus, whether they can afford to or not.

Howard’s own cost of attendance makes the consequences clear: students who cannot secure a dorm assignment face an annual premium of approximately $8,000. This estimate understates the true cost, given that many students confront rents ranging from $1,250 to more than $2,700 per month, often in small, shared, or otherwise unstable units. Add to this the transportation expenses faced by displaced sophomores living far from campus, some of whom spend an estimated $3,000 a year on Uber rides alone, and the picture becomes one of deeply unequal access to basic stability.

My capstone project was developed in response to this disconnect. At its core is the belief that housing insecurity among upperclassmen is not an inevitable outcome of enrollment growth, but a solvable problem, one that requires data, coordination, and intentional investment. The project begins with documenting unmet housing needs through a comprehensive student housing survey and database. This tool maps the lived experiences of students navigating displacement, unaffordable rents, predatory lease conditions, and informal housing markets dominated by Facebook group listings and lease takeovers. More than 300 students have participated so far, with the goal of reaching at least 1,000 responses to establish a strong evidence base.

The results collected to date already highlight patterns that demand attention. Nearly 280 respondents report that Howard does not adequately acknowledge or address student housing concerns. Between 80 and 90 percent say they have never been contacted by, or even heard of, the university offices meant to support them. When asked to rate transparency and communication about housing options, more than half selected the lowest categories of satisfaction. Strikingly, those in the greatest need of institutional assistance are consistently the least aware of how to access it.

To address immediate harm while building toward long-term reform, the capstone includes a pilot Student Housing Relief Fund of $1,000. This small but targeted financial intervention offers real-time support for rent, utilities, transportation, or moving expenses, while also generating documentation to demonstrate the scale and nature of student need. The Fund operates through a transparent application process that simultaneously encourages participation in the housing survey, helping to expand the dataset that will guide policy recommendations. We hope to give a moderate amount to a small group of students to showcase how far up to $1,000 in emergency relief can keep students afloat.

Students who will graduate before future residence halls open still deserve safety and stability. They deserve structures that support them rather than push them toward crisis. If Howard cannot house its upperclassmen, it must commit to supporting them in other ways. And if the University cannot yet see a path, students can, and must, show one.

Howard’s students deserve more than survival, they deserve the ability to thrive, wherever they live.

Payton Garcia is a fellow in the 2025-26 cohort of the John Lewis Young Leaders. Learn more about Payton or donate to his capstone project.