Every year the study lounges on Anderson floors 2 and 6 are used as temporary housing for students who plan to live off-campus but have yet to find a place to live. Temporary housing is open on the second floor for males and the sixth floor for females during the first three weeks of the semester.
On Monday, any students still living in the lounges on these floors will have to move out.
"Some people stay two days, others stay the full three weeks we're open," said Julie Weber, executive director of Housing and Dining.
Most people moved out this week, said Dimitar Yordanov, a Kogod School of Business sophomore, who has been living in the lounge on Anderson 2.
Temporary housing occurs every year and has nothing to do with the large number of freshmen AU accepted this semester, Weber said.
"We would only put freshmen in lounges in the most unusual situations," Weber said.
One such unusual situation occurred during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when AU took in refugee students from schools in the New Orleans area.
Any students still living in temporary housing after three weeks must make alternative arrangements. While students are living in temporary housing, others living in Anderson 2 and 6 do not have access to their study lounges.
"The students who live on that floor are entitled to get their spaces back," Weber said.
Some students said they were unaware lounge space had been utilized for housing.
"I just passed by and saw [the people living in the lounges]. ... I don't remember them telling us about it," said Francine Markowitz, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences.
School of Communication sophomore Inna Arnaudova, who has been living in the lounge on Anderson 6, said temporary housing costs students $17 a night, a cheaper alternative to hotels or hostels.
Arnaudova will be moving into an apartment with three other Bulgarian international students, including Yordanov.
"We got rejected from one place and that was one we really had our eyes set on," Yordanov said.
Arnaudova said the apartment will be ready later this month, and she will be staying with friends until then.
"The only problem [with the apartment] was that the roof was leaking when it was raining, otherwise it was fine. ... But they haven't done anything to fix the roof," Arnaudova said.
Although not the best option, students find the temporary housing livable.
"[Temporary housing] wasn't that good in the beginning, but I got used to it," Yordanov said. "I think it's a lot easier for guys ... all the guys got used to it really fast"
