It's a race against the clock for Southern Arkansas University.
For the second consecutive year, the Magnolia school is looking to build more on-campus housing before a new bunch of students comes to campus next fall. The university has faced enrollment spurts -- with two double-digit increases in the past two years -- and, subsequently, a housing crunch.
SAU has seen a 43 percent uptick in enrollment since fall 2012 -- when it had 3,330 students -- and tallied some 4,771 students this August. It's the fastest-growing public four-year university in the state but still sits in the middle of the pack among its peers' enrollment numbers. And preliminary estimates show that the university is already up 300 applications than the same time last year, said SAU President Trey Berry.
That fast pace is coupled with an annual average of a 7 percent increase in on-campus living. After finishing two new dorms this year, the university is already in need of more.
On Thursday, trustees gave the OK for the university to issue $8 million in bonds -- with an interest rate no higher than 4 percent -- to make room for two more residence halls on campus. SAU's board unanimously agreed that the university issue the bonds to add about 160 beds.
The plan is to renovate the old skating rink, the Rider Rink, now called the Mule Barn. The space is currently used as a small-activity venue, but not many people rent it out, Berry said. The renovation is expected to cost about $2,750,000 and will house about 78 students.
The university is also planning to build a new residence hall behind Magnolia Hall that will house about 85 students and cost about $5,130,000.
SAU officials are hoping to have both done by August 2017.
The bond issue approved Thursday will have little effect on the university's cash flow, as room and board fees will cover most of the costs, said Shawana Reed, SAU's vice president for finance. Also Thursday, trustees approved the refinancing of a 2011 bond issue for $6.5 million for an agriculture building. The refinancing is expected to save the university $1.7 million in interest through the life of the bond.
Without the refinanced bond and new issue, the university has a debt load of about $60.2 million and pays about $2.1 million annually, she said.
SAU officials have credited the unique programming for most of the growth. New programs -- including engineering and game design and animation -- along with some older ones, such as nursing and musical theater, have attracted students to the school, Berry has said.
The university has also started heavily recruiting in Louisiana, Texas and parts of Arkansas it hasn't tapped into before.
With the increased enrollment, the university has also seen 120 more residents in each of the past two years, Berry said. This year, it had 160 more residents.
And when classes started up in August, one of the new halls, called Columbia, opened and filled. The university housed some 100 students in hotels until the second new residence hall, called Magnolia, was ready. Those students moved in last week.
That hall filled 105 of 130 beds, said Donna Allen, the vice president for student affairs.
Those residence halls were also on the fast track as the Alumni Association helped the university issue tax-free bonds for the construction. The halls added about 264 more beds to the 1,560 the university already had.
And before those were opened, the university was housing about 1,600 students, about 40 more than capacity, Allen has said. They started last fall tripling the double rooms in two residence halls, doubling single rooms in an entire hall and giving resident assistants roommates.
Metro on 10/17/2016