CofC Is Running Out Of Room: Some Students Could Be Housed In Hotels As Campus Housing Demand Grows
College of Charleston is facing a student housing crunch, and some students may end up living in local hotels instead of the residence halls they originally expected.
According to local reports, the college is preparing to welcome the largest incoming freshman class in school history this fall. With campus housing demand rising, about 125 upperclassmen could be moved into four area hotels as CofC works to make room for more first-year students.
The hotels named in reporting include Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Waterfront/Downtown, Courtyard by Marriott Charleston Waterfront, Residence Inn by Marriott and SpringHill Suites by Marriott.
The move has frustrated some students and parents, especially those who believed their housing plans for the upcoming school year were already finalized. For students who planned around being able to walk to class, campus jobs, dining halls, libraries and other resources, being moved farther from campus creates a new layer of uncertainty.
College officials say students placed in hotels would pay the same rate they would have paid for on-campus housing and would still have access to residence life staff, public safety support, shuttle service, late-night transportation and campus resources.
The issue goes beyond the students being placed in hotels. CofC’s own housing page says the college is unable to offer on-campus housing to transfer students for the 2026–2027 academic year because of a very large incoming class.
This is not a brand-new problem. College of Charleston has already been working on a long-term housing expansion through its Coming Street Commons project, a planned student residence complex near Coming, Calhoun, St. Philip and Vanderhorst streets. The project is intended to add more student beds and ease pressure on nearby neighborhoods, but it has also drawn community concern because the site includes the former YWCA building and land connected to historic burial grounds.
That is what makes this bigger than just a campus housing story.
This is also a Charleston growth story.
CofC wants to grow. Downtown Charleston is already tight. Students need housing. Residents are already feeling housing pressure. Neighborhoods around campus continue to absorb the overflow. And now the college is having to rely on hotels as a short-term solution while longer-term housing projects remain years away.
For students, the question is simple: where are they supposed to live?
For Charleston, the question is bigger: how much growth can the peninsula keep absorbing without enough housing to support it?
As CofC continues to grow, this housing issue is likely to stay in the spotlight.
