A new study ( 1) was just released that will likely get little attention but reaffirms an important truth: Freshman who live in traditional style residence halls with double rooms and shared bathrooms do better in college than students who live in apartment-style units. Research completed over the last 40 years continues to demonstrate that living in shared spaces often results in higher retention rates, better grades, increased participation in co-curricular involvement, and higher graduation rates. The results are more nuanced as students continue through college, and by their senior year, many students are thriving while living with greater levels of independence. 

Many Colleges and universities are racing to provide more amenities and greater levels of privacy for their residential students. While college style luxury living is appealing to potential students, it has drawbacks that students and parents don’t always realize until it’s too late. It may be what a new student thinks they want, the problem is, it’s not necessarily what they need. Research and professional experience teaches us that students living on a floor with a strong community presence perform better academically as well as in their co-curricular and extra-curricular pursuits. When students live in campus housing with increased levels of privacy such as single units, private bathrooms, and/or apartment style living; research tends to report the opposite, including increased feelings of isolation and loneliness. Finally, longitudinal reporting from alumni finds that students who have lived in a more traditional residence hall setting for at least one year continue to credit those shared experiences as contributing to their success after graduation as well. 

Students are often living away from home for the first time. Campus housing is virtually always staffed with live-in, full time professionals as well as upper-class students serving in Residential Advisor (RA) roles. Shared spaces provide greater opportunities for staff to understand and offer support to the students. Hallmates with less privacy develop stronger friendships with each other, learn to trust each other more, are more likely study together, eat together, etc, etc. Living in an environment with shared common spaces and strong leadership from residential staff typically leads to thriving, productive learning communities. Perhaps the most telling example of this is higher graduation rates for students who live in traditional residence halls for at least one year versus students who do not. When parents ask, I always encourage the traditional housing choice, at least for the first year. Even with the occasional roommate issues, the feedback tends to be overwhelmingly positive–especially years later when graduates reflect on the experiences they valued most in college.

If you would like to talk this through in greater detail, drop me a note at jeff@www.collegeroutemap.com.

( 1) “The Hidden Structure: The Influence of Residence Hall Design on Academic Outcomes.” The Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, June 2019

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