St. Olaf College juniors Cayla Chun and Liz Pederson are living among a different type of seniors this year – the kind that could pass as their grandparents.

The two students are living in a suite in the Northfield Retirement Community alongside more than 100 older adults because there isn't enough campus housing at St. Olaf this year.

"I really enjoy it," Chun said. "I think it's a really wholesome experience."

Across the state, some schools are arranging creative housing options for students, from retirement homes to off-campus apartments. Others are bunking in lounges converted into sleeping spaces, Airbnbs or double dorm rooms that now squeeze in a third roommate.

The unusual digs can present challenges, but they're attempts by colleges like the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf and the University of St. Thomas to accommodate every student wanting to live on campus as the schools face increased enrollment this year, bucking national trends of shrinking student counts.

Another factor: Some students' attendance and housing decisions were delayed last spring and summer, partly due to problems with the FAFSA's rollout last year. The later timeline sent administrators scrambling to find housing space at the last minute.

Most college officials said it's a good problem to have in a time when student enrollment has declined at dramatic rates across higher education due to declining birthrates and fewer people pursuing degrees.

"Schools are always kind of hoping that their enrollments outperform projections and that they get into a little bit of this issue," said Aaron Macke, St. Thomas' associate dean of students and residence life director. "Those are healthy budgets."

For some students, the atypical housing option means setting up wardrobes instead of filling closets. Special film is put on lounges' glass doors for privacy. And students must follow not just their colleges' rules, but the rules of a retirement community or private apartment complex.

When this situation occurs, the goal is to make students' experiences as normal as possible, said Susan Stubblefield, the U's director of housing and residential life.

At the U, placing three students in a space meant for two or temporarily in a dormitory lounge isn't unprecedented, though it hasn't been necessary on the Twin Cities campus for about six years, Stubblefield said, adding that students in the special accommodations get a deal on housing.

"It definitely has its pros and its cons," said Emma Gearns, who lives with three women in a St. Thomas residence hall lounge. "Overall, there's just small inconveniences that make it less homelike."

Seniors for neighbors

St. Olaf officials knew they would need more space when they planned to renovate two connected residence halls that usually house 300 students. They planned for the project but were pleasantly surprised when 4% more first-year students decided to attend this year. A higher percentage of sophomores and juniors returned, too, said Mike Berthelsen, St. Olaf's CFO and vice president for finance.

Almost every student lives on campus all four years at St. Olaf, with a few exceptions. It's a core piece of the school's mission, Berthelsen said, so the school found several new housing options — including off-campus apartments, computer rooms and study spaces, Airbnbs, putting additional students in existing rooms and renting suites and townhouses from the nearby retirement home.

This year, about 40 students live at the retirement home, which had extra room because it was at 80% occupancy.

"Financially, it was a good fit for us," said Tom Nielsen, Northfield Retirement Community's president and CEO.

Some residents had initial concerns, such as noise and students coming and going late at night, but those problems haven't materialized, he said.

"They're such a quiet bunch," said Amil Anderson, a retirement home resident who once directed St. Olaf's student center. "They haven't had any major parties yet."

Sophomore Evelyn Kreft lives in townhouses owned by the retirement home, about a mile from campus. "I think it's kind of like a good separation [from campus]," she said.

Kreft, whose unit has a kitchenette and a main bedroom shared by three students, said the main differences from campus housing are the fold-down chair in the shower and grab bars near the toilet.

A fourth roommate lives in a walk-in closet, complete with double doors. It was funny at first, but "she definitely decorated it into working perfectly," Kreft said.

Some senior residents recently tuned into Kreft's volleyball game online after Kreft mentioned it; she's planning future activities with them, she said.

Annabel Boughey, a St. Olaf senior, said she's living with a roommate in privately owned apartments in Northfield, a 25-minute walk from campus.

She's got "way more space" than she'd have in a dorm room, she said, but it was hard to reach the property manager when her dishwasher leaked.

"It's an amazing place to live; there's just no one to answer questions when you have questions," she said.

Living in lounges

The U and St. Thomas both saw enrollment increases this year, leading to the need for alternative housing options.

At the U, about 90 students are living in housing meant for fewer people — four students in a triple dorm room, for instance — and fewer than 20 are still living in lounges. Those students have been gradually moving into regular dorm rooms as space opens up, Stubblefield said. The students housed in lounges missed the college's housing deadline and she said many were happy to get any on-campus housing at all.

It's a similar story at St. Thomas, where about 80 students are living in lounges and study rooms converted to dorms or with a fourth roommate in a triple dorm room, Macke said. The school instituted a two-year residency requirement two years ago, noting that living on campus generally leads to better retention and graduation rates.

"Parents like knowing that there's guaranteed housing [for two years]," Macke said. "Students are students, and some appreciate it; some want independence."

With more students living together, roommate tension is a possibility, Macke said. On the other hand, more roommates means more chances to meet friends.

"When they first find out, there's a little bit of shock to it, like, 'What is this?'" he said.

Students living in lounges get the same furniture as in a regular dorm room, plus a wardrobe instead of a closet. Some lounges had partial glass walls, so the college put film on them. Living in a lounge means there's light coming through those glass windows at all hours, Gearns said, and they must walk through the lobby after they shower, which can include encounters with men from the other wing.

The toughest thing is adjusting to having less — or no — alone time with three roommates, said Selma Sandsengen, a St. Thomas senior from Norway who is a resident assistant on a floor where women live in a lounge.

Jemi Alowonle, a freshman living in a lounge with Gearns and two other women, said she was "really scared" about the arrangement at first.

"Luckily, my roommates are really nice," she said. "We try not to step on each other's toes and respect boundaries."