Fueled by significant enrollment growth, Holy Family University has unveiled plans for a 288-unit residential complex on its Newtown East campus, writes Ryan Mulligan for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The construction would mark the school’s first housing project there since it acquired the property in 1994. The project at 1 Campus Drive calls for 288 apartment-style units, along with a 5,300-square-foot clubhouse and roughly 500 parking spaces. The new residences would supplement the university’s four existing dorms at its Northeast Philadelphia campus.

The push for additional housing comes as Holy Family experiences significant enrollment growth, bucking a national trend that has strained many small private colleges. Between 2014 and 2024, full-time-equivalent undergraduate enrollment rose 55 percent to 2,071 students, according to U.S. Department of Education data. This fall, the university welcomed 767 new undergraduates — 510 first-year students and 257 transfer students.

First-year enrollment is even with last year and up 43 percent since Holy Family President Dr. Anne M. Prisco began her tenure in 2021, while transfer enrollment grew by 30 students over last year, a 53 percent increase since 2021.

Katherine Primus, Holy Family’s Vice President for Marketing and Communications, said that housing demand has outpaced supply.

“We’re excited about what the possibilities are, and we look forward to partnering and really being an anchor institution in Newtown and Bucks County writ large,” she said.

Read more about Holy Family University’s efforts to expand its presence in Bucks County in the Philadelphia Business Journal.