With another record-setting freshman class expected to arrive on campus next fall, the Office of Residence Life has announced the lottery system for on-campus housing will be changed to include all applying students — including those who are looking to remain in their present hall.

In previous years, students could avoid the lottery by opting to stay in their same room. Alicia Voytek, associate director of Residence Life, said this policy resulted in newer students being unable to find rooms in other halls.

“This change to a full lottery results in the fairest process for the most students, allowing all students a chance to secure on-campus housing, not just those already in an upper-division space,” Voytek said. “Allowing upper-division students to reapply to their same rooms would hinder students in [Freshman Connections] halls from having the chance to reapply to that space.”

To increase the number of students the campus can hold, Residence Life will also be offering the option of “triple room” arrangements in select freshman halls.

“Based on the positive feedback received about tripled-room options, incoming freshmen for 2011-12 have the option to request a tripled room,” Voytek said. “The number of tripled rooms offered will depend on space availability and the size of the new freshman class.”

Voytek said guaranteed on-campus housing needs to be reserved for new students because juniors and seniors are the most prepared to move into other residences.

“Upper-division students gain more experience and independence each year, and [they] have more exposure to navigating the college environment,” Voytek said. “In general, they are more equipped to live off campus than freshmen and sophomores.”

Lindsey Van Eck, a sophomore anthropology major, said there are obvious reasons why upperclassmen would find off-campus housing more appealing than underclassmen would.

“It’s a good way to meet new people, and it’s fun,” Van Eck said. “But there’s a certain point where living on campus gets boring; you want to live on your own and be an adult.”

According to data from Residence Life, NAU currently houses approximately 41 percent of the students enrolled on the Flagstaff mountain campus. In comparison, UA provides 16 percent of its population with on-campus housing, and ASU holds 18 percent.

Voytek said the changes to NAU’s housing lottery were not necessitated by rising enrollment and larger freshman classes, but are rather intended to make the reapplication process easier.

“A version of the housing lottery has been in place for many years for ‘rising sophomores’ moving from Freshman Connections halls to upper-division halls,” Voytek said. “With the continued enrollment growth and more demand for housing than space, the expanded lottery allows all current students a fair chance to live on campus. Even with moderate growth, we would have seen higher demand than space, but the consecutive years of significant growth and the cumulative impact led us to this decision sooner.”

If students are looking to live on campus again in the fall, Voytek said they could increase their chances by applying for halls with specific requirements the entire student body cannot reach.

“If students reapply at the same rate they did last year, most students participating should be able to secure a space on campus — it just may not be in a hall of their choice,” Voytek said. “Current [Freshman Connections] students will be naturally weighted in the lottery due to the larger number of students in that group, and that traditionally freshmen tend to reapply at higher rates overall than upper-division students. However, upper-division students reapplying to halls with credit-hour or GPA requirements may help one’s odds in that fewer students will be eligible to reapply for those spaces.”

Ashley Mellgren, a freshman psychology major and current resident of Allen Hall, said she would prefer to reside in a campus residence hall next year.

“I think on-campus is better because everything is here,” Mellgren said. “Our campus is pretty tight as a community.”

Mellgren said the university needs to invest in more housing so a greater number of students are not asked to fill the same space in coming years.

“It is fair, but it does suck at the same time, just because you have the room,” Mellgren said. “I know for a fact that my friend who lives in McKay would love to stay with her roommates. Logically, it does make sense, but in the long run, it does kind of suck. I think there needs to be more housing so there isn’t the three-room thing. If we want to grow as a school, I think housing is one of the biggest parts.”