University of Montana Celebrates Successes in Housing, Enrollment

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - With the potential of yet another year of enrollment increases, University of Montana Director of Strategic Communications Dave Kuntz appeared with Missoula Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Losh on the KGVO Talk Back show to address several important topics, including housing over 10,000 students.

Chamber of Commerce Celebrates Successes at UM

“We’ve had three straight years of enrollment growth, we're cautiously optimistic that we'll enter into a fourth this fall,” began Kuntz. “As university leaders make those decisions, it's taking that data that we have in hand, but then also trying to project what things will look like in the years ahead. We're optimistic that we're in a growth trajectory and a growth cycle here that'll last for a long time, and so we need to make those investments now. For example, it's going to take about three years to build that new residence hall, so we’re making those decisions now so we can keep that supply one step ahead of demand. We’re able to make these big decisions such as adding 600 beds to campus, giving us the faith that we can continue this progress and continue to bring students to campus and fill that demand.”

Higher Missoula Rents have Forced More Students to Live on Campus

Kuntz said recent housing price increases in Missoula are forcing more students to live on campus.

“We have about 2,400 students living on campus, and then about another 1,000 students who live facilities off campus,” he said. “These include some of the apartment buildings that the university owns. The dynamic that we're seeing is with the rise in rents and housing in Missoula, you're seeing more upperclassmen stay in the dorms. 10 years ago, it was largely freshmen, but in the sophomore year, the price point drove students off campus. Now you can live on campus for almost about half of what it would cost to rent a room in Missoula. So we're seeing more sophomores, juniors and even graduate students staying on campus.”

Kuntz said university leadership is constantly vetting new projects on campus with an eye to continued growth.

“We have a master plan that that looks 10 to 20 years out with different scenarios in terms of enrollment and financial resources,” he said. “We also work closely with the Board of Regents and the legislature on some of these investments to make sure that that if the state has interest in any of these things, it goes through the right vetting process, so any new residence hall, parking lot, or science lab goes up without going through that vetting process.”

UM Also Celebrates Success in Research and Development

One rapidly growing area of success on campus is that of scientific research that brings in millions of dollars of investment to the university.

“We’ve had the six fastest growing research enterprises in the country since 2014 so we have high quality researchers,” he said. “Our research output is right now about north of $150 million, and that's up from roughly $40 to $60 million a decade ago. Those are dollars that are being invested here, into the university, into Missoula, and oftentimes, some of our really successful research enterprises and centers spin off into private industry here in the community.”

UM officials broke ground on what will be the largest new residence hall on campus just last week, which should be ready for students in 2027.