Because there was not enough on-campus housing, 198 men were placed in supplemental housing this semester, said Kathy Krinks, assistant director of assignment operations.

Supplemental housing usually converts study lounges into dorm rooms for three to 10 people. This arrangement affects not only the students living in the supplemental room but
also other on-campus residents, because residents who live on the
same floor lose their study lounges.

"I'm really not happy about it," said Joe Ranalli (junior-mechanical engineering), a student who lost his Atherton Hall study lounge to supplemental housing. Although the recycling room on his floor in Atherton Hall has been converted into a study lounge with a few tables and chairs, he said the regular study lounge is a more welcoming environment.

"I feel that [a study lounge] is a service that's there for us, and [housing] is selling that spot and we're not getting any money," he said. "Housing really doesn't have a great concern for the views of students." Supplemental housing is usually a temporary living arrangement. By the end of the first month of the semester, most students have the option to move into a regular room, said Lynn DuBois, associate director of housing.

Supplemental housing is necessary each semester because more students are admitted to University Park than there is regular dorm space, Krinks said.

"What's more traumatic [for the student] -- to live in supplemental housing or not be accepted to Penn State?" Krinks said. "Why deny someone admittance to Penn State University Park if that's what their dreams are?"

Some students choose to stay in supplemental because they have a bigger room and have made friends, DuBois said.

"Supplemental housing sounds uninviting," DuBois said. However, she said a lot of students choose to stay.

This semester, female students who wished to live on campus were placed in regular dorm housing, DuBois said.

The 42 women who are currently in supplemental housing lived there in the fall and, through an assignment office survey, chose to remain there this semester, Krinks said.

Of the 198 men who are assigned to supplemental rooms this semester, only 56 chose to remain there after living in the room in the fall, Krinks said.

More men than women are in supplemental housing this semester for several reasons.

"Typically the numbers are pretty even, but this year there were more male admits," Krinks said. "We typically have more women who pursue other academic interests such as studying abroad and student teaching."

There are more housing spaces for female students, Krinks said. This is because more women stay on-campus after their freshman year, she said.

Currently, there are 6,055 female and 5,451 male housing spaces, but this changes every semester and is based on the projected number of incoming and returning students, Krinks said.