‘It’s heartbreaking’ | Future UT students might have harder time getting accepted

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Despite UT’s big wins in football and most sports these days, school leaders are still facing big problems. During WVLT’s Big Orange Kick-Off show Saturday morning, Chancellor Donde Plowman said acceptance might be harder than before.

“We want to grow this university. That’s why it’s heartbreaking to have to kind of take a breath and say, ‘Well, until we get the next set of infrastructure, we can’t grow that much more,’” Plowman said.

Already, the university welcomed more than 2,000 new students this year and saw its biggest incoming class this fall. Some students are still having to stay in hotels for the semester. Others said the name of the game is starting the housing process early.

“We’re not going to take more students than we can place in dorms or in classes with faculty. We’ll be breathing and looking for creative alternatives. And we’ve got some in mind. That we’re working on,” Plowman said.

Students can now start the housing application process for next semester, which is three months earlier than usual.

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