Upperclassmen will no longer have the option to live in traditional residence halls, according to LSU Residential Life.
The decision was made to accommodate new University requirements for first-year students, according to Residential Life Associate Director of Communications and Development Catherine David. 
LSU began requiring all first-year, full-time students to live on campus in fall 2018. The University defines these students as anyone who has graduated from high school and not attempted any college coursework, excluding dual-enrollment courses.
First year students with a ZIP code within a 50-mile, in-state radius of campus are not required to live on campus. Other exclusions could apply to students who are disabled, married or over the age of 21.
First-year students who live on campus their first year have increased grade-point averages, retention rates and graduation rates, according to Residential Life. It can also improve the transition from high school to college.
The size of freshman classes are increasing, according to David.
The University welcomed its largest freshman class in fall 2019 with 6,126 first-year students enrolled. This surpassed the previous record of 5,809 in fall 2018.
The decision to limit traditional residence halls to first-year students only is in response to these factors, David said, but upperclassmen still have the opportunity to live in on-campus apartments.
“This natural progression through campus housing is the result of more than doubling our upper-class apartment inventory with the opening of Nicholson Gateway Apartments in 2018 and the growing incoming freshman class sizes,” David said.
On-campus housing for upperclassmen includes East Campus Apartments (ECA), West Campus Apartments (WCA) and Nicholson Gateway Apartments.
International studies major and WCA residential assistant Layla Elkhan said she understands why the University is restricting upperclassmen from living in traditional residence halls,but finds it unfortunate for some students.
“I do find it unfair to upperclassmen that do enjoy the traditional res[idential] hall experience,” Elkhan said. “Also, there aren’t enough apartments on campus to house all upperclassmen that do wish to live on campus, so taking away the residence halls as an option for them is unfair. Especially for those who have scholarships or don’t have a car.”
Marketing senior Steve Dewhurst lived in ECA in the spring of 2019.
He said he enjoyed the perks of living on campus, but the apartments can be expensive.
“Living in an apartment is an awesome experience,” Dewhurst said. “However, it’s more expensive than the dorms, so students who come from lower income families could run into some problems with being able to afford it.”
David said Residential Life is comfortable with where it stands.
“We are now able to accommodate a University live-on requirement for first-year students while still offering the campus lifestyle to sophomores and up in our apartments,” David said.
Elkhan said the demand for dorms would not be so high if the University lowered the sizes of its freshman classes.
“They could just lower their acceptance rate but, you know, the more the merrier,” Elkhan said.