Some Winthrop students feel left out by new housing plan. It prioritizes freshmen

On Wednesday afternoon, Winthrop University students Bailey Wimberly and Meghan Miglorie went apartment hunting in Rock Hill. It wasn’t by choice.

Both students had planned to live on campus next year, until they got a message from the university that juniors and seniors may not have that option. Historic enrollment growth at Winthrop is likely to push upperclassmen like them off campus, if they can find an affordable option.

“I don’t know if I can even go to school here,” said Wimberly, a rising junior from Louisiana.

Winthrop needs the housing space it has for a large freshman class, along with sophomores completing their two-year residency requirement. The school intends to add more housing, but couldn’t build anything new in time to help current upperclassmen.

Winthrop has 5,287 students, including 1,014 freshmen. The number of freshmen is up 13% in a year and 43% in three years. The overall enrollment increase of 393 students this school year puts Winthrop above 5,000 students for the first time since 2021.

For Miglorie, a rising senior from Myrtle Beach, it’s frustrating that the school would accommodate people who haven’t been here and keep adding more of them, at the expense of enrolled students.

“Winthrop needs to focus less on bringing new people into the school,” Milgorie said, “and more on keeping the students who are here happy and comfortable.”

Housing changes at Winthrop University

Students recently received a letter from the university detailing changes for next school year, starting this fall.

Incoming freshmen will get priority for on-campus housing. Sophomores come next. For the first time, Winthrop won’t be able to guarantee housing for juniors and seniors.

Upperclassmen can join a wait-list by March 1. Housing would be assigned if it becomes available, based on credit hours of students on that list. Winthrop recognizes increased interest among upperclassmen to live on campus in recent years, according to the letter.

“Please know that this decision was made only after exhausting all other available options,” it said. “Our goal is to be as transparent as possible now so that you have the maximum amount of time to secure alternative housing arrangements.”

Winthrop is working with Apartment and Corporate Relocation Service, a company that helps people find short-term and corporate housing across South Carolina. Winthrop made the company’s services free to use for students.

“Winthrop has worked diligently to create additional space for juniors and seniors over the last three years by leasing bed spaces from community partners, but we have finally reached our capacity and are unable to continue that practice beyond our current commitments,” Residence Life Director Jarad Russell said in a statement provided to The Herald.

Rock Hill apartment options

Winthrop alum Alex Krasnoff bought a former frat house near the university several years ago, and is in her second year running it like an Airbnb for student housing. The Coterie has eight bedrooms for rent.

There’s been earlier-than-usual interest for the fall, she said, which could be due to the housing priority changes.

Krasnoff moderates a Facebook page devoted to off-campus housing at Winthrop, with more than 700 members. Recent posts are a mix of students looking for roommates, parents of incoming students looking for options, house subleases and room listings.

“I think there’s plenty of housing in Rock Hill,” Krasnoff said.

From 2019 to 2023, Winthrop’s enrollment dropped 20% from 5,865 to 4,694 students. In the two school years since, enrollment grew by 12.6% to 5,287 students. Still, those numbers aren’t as high as they were two decades ago.

Winthrop had 6,400 students when Krasnoff graduated in 2006. In 2002, Winthrop announced it would cap enrollment at 7,000 students due to housing availability, Herald records show.

“Those kids lived somewhere,” Krasnoff said. “I don’t think that they’re going to have a problem (next year).”

Cost difference in SC housing options

For students, the question isn’t whether Rock Hill has enough housing options. It’s cost.

Many students don’t have jobs that can pay for market-rate housing, or may not have a parent to co-sign for an apartment, students say.

“People are going to have to leave,” Miglorie said.

Per semester housing costs in Winthrop dorms range from $2,582 for a Roddey Hall two-bedroom to $3,603 for double rooms in Lee Wicker, Phelps or Thomson halls. Off-campus options through Winthrop — CampusWalk and The Courtyard at Winthrop — range from $4,047 to $4,913 per semester.

The average rent for downtown Rock Hill is $1,614 per month, according to apartments.com. Options range from $1,347 to $1,744 per month. Citywide, the average rent for an apartment is $1,324 per month.

Cost also feeds into the pinch for upperclassmen. Many universities only guarantee housing for freshman or even require upperclassmen to move off campus, Russell said. He isn’t aware of any public school in the state the guarantees housing for juniors and seniors.

”At Winthrop, for many years, juniors and seniors were eager to move off campus,” Russell said. “However, with the increased cost of housing, we observed Winthrop students choosing to stay longer on campus or move back to campus if possible.”

Winthrop is building new housing

Part of the housing crunch at Winthrop stems from the demolition of the Wofford and Richardson residence halls two years ago.

Those 8-story buildings housed 800 students. Last fall, Winthrop announced plans to build a 4-story, 95,000-square-foot residence hall on the same spot along Cherry Road. It would house 400 students.

Construction should start this year and finish by the end of next year. There was discussion about a second residence hall in a future phase.

Two years ago, the South Carolina Department of Administration solicited property owners in Rock Hill in hopes of leasing residences to the state for use as Winthrop student housing. Only one responded.

CampusWalk at 610 and 630 Rose St. agreed to a three-year lease for 320 beds. That lease, through summer 2027, has three two-year renewal options for the state. Over nine years, the lease would cost $27.7 million.

“We look forward to a future where Winthrop’s residential living and learning experience will feature additional facilities,” the school’s recent housing letter to students said.

Fairness for Winthrop students

Winthrop plans to allow sophomores who have alternative housing to get out of the two-year residency requirement, if the school has juniors or seniors to fill the on-campus rooms. Still, options will be limited.

Winthrop had a 13% increase in freshman this school year compared to 2024-25, and 11% more transfer students. This year’s freshman class is 43% larger than the one three years ago. Transfers are up 52% in that span.

For older students, the new housing policy stirs thoughts of transfers and backup plans if they can’t find a place to stay.

“It’s just unrealistic,” Wimberly said. “It completely messes us up.”

Any scholarships or loans that students receive above the cost of tuition and fees will be refunded and can be used for off campus housing, Russell said. Several nearby housing provider are accustomed to working with students, he said, including flexible payment options. Upperclassmen concerned about their housing situations should sign up for the wait list, Russell said.

“We will do our best to get as many people as possible on campus,” he said.

This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 5:24 AM with the headline "Some Winthrop students feel left out by new housing plan. It prioritizes freshmen."