UF is in Gainesville. FSU is in Tallahassee.
My D visited Oxy and wanted to love it, loved it on paper, and it has tuition exchange at the University where I work…but she felt it was run down…
Will add to above on Occidental - very pretty/charming campus, looked at it because it is close to LA. Charming like the realtors use to describe something that looks great on outside but may have other issues…The exterior is very well kept, but D thought the interiors looked old in furnishings and ambiance. When they said living on campus was required for 3 years - on top of many dorms not having A/C, and all being traditional style (community bathroom at end of hallway) and no suite style - my daughter pretty much said peace out, let’s go. They did say around 30-40 students get waivers to live off campus, but otherwise you are on campus. Area around it didn’t offer too much. Off list.
Are there any LACs that don’t have a 3 or 4 year residency requirement? I can’t think of any. Of course, some are good at offering a range of housing options for upperclassmen such as apartments and/or small houses. Colorado College, Wesleyan,Williams, and Haverford come to mind as colleges that offer non-dorm options.
Wofford and Furman have apartment options for upperclassman.
@johnross
When did you visit GWU? Because they got rid of their dining hall this yr
University of Puget Sound is a 2 year on campus requirement. Goucher may allow upperclassmen to live off campus if short on housing for underclassmen but it is a waiver.
@doschicos With 3 STEM majors before this one, I had no idea LACs tend to require living on campus for longer than others. After 30 college tours, this is the first time I heard of that, learn something new everyday! I always felt lucky if you could get option to have two years on campus, but irrelevant anyway, mine went off campus after first year and wouldn’t want it any other way.
Whitman encourages students to move off campus. There isn’t enough housing for the upper classes.
Bowdoin only requires on campus residency two years.
When I toured Muhlenberg it immediately went off my list.There was just something about it that I didn’t like and after touring Lafayette in the morning which I loved[now my #1] it did not compare.What I thought was so weird which struck me the wrong way was the tour guide saying that they did yoga in the church aisles in between the pews.That gave me weird vibes even though I guess it isn’t that big of a deal.
^Most private colleges are nonsecular and their chapels/churches are as well. Nobody is going to force you to do yoga if you don’t want to.
Kalamazoo College does not require 4 year residency, it owns small houses in and around campus that students apply for, as themed housing (service etc) and many students move off campus by senior year.
Haverford and Bryn Mawr – at least back in the old days – had a lottery for students to get off campus. In the '80s, there were plenty of rental houses that were passed down from student group to student group for off-campus housing. I do not know if that practice has changed.
Vassar has senior apartments which serve as “adulthood on training wheels” space; Denison has senior apartments; Dickinson and Wooster own small houses in and around campus which are part of campus housing. Bates has built new student housing and I thought one was apartment-style, but I could be wrong.
Many of these on and off campus houses may still be fairly “dumpy.” That certainly contrasts with my public flagship kid’s experience, as almost all students move off campus after freshman year. With 20,000 or more kids a year looking for apartments, there is something for everyone, including the $1000 a month-per-person deluxe apartment with a roof top pool, fire pit and barista-style coffee bar.
As parents does it scare you when colleges can’t assure you of 4 yrs of on-campus housing? I like the idea of apts and houses for the older students, but I don’t love the idea of half the student body living off campus, because of how it affects community and safety issues such as walking home alone at night.
At some Us apartment buildings can be closer to classes than the dorms. At least true at my son’s big state school. And so many students live in them that it is almost like a dorm. Actually there are some apartment buildings that are private owned dorms.
I’m only concerned about on campus housing rates at small LACs, because I think it makes a small campus even smaller if the upperclassmen move off campus. For the big U I don’t think it matters all that much.
^And that is part of why the majority of LACs have 3-4 year residency requirements. Community in campus is a big part of the LAC experience.
FYI at Haverford/Bryn Mawr, a good 98-99% live on campus.
If finding off campus housing is a problem, I think you’d know. Ask, find out what people are doing for that last year or two. Are they all living within a mile of school? Are there a few houses or apartments nearby that everyone lives in? Is there a shortage or do people move off campus because they are sick of dorm life, dorm food, eating on a schedule? I haven’t heard of college kids living in their cars at the LACs, so I doubt it is a problem.
At my daughter’s school there is a requirement to live on-campus for 2 years but it is not enforced because there isn’t enough on campus housing available. My daughter did live on campus for 2 years and now lives in a house just a little past the freshman village (and much closer than some of the university owned housing). I think it has been good to have the mix, and living off campus is a lot cheaper mostly because of the meal plan. She doesn’t spend the $2700 per semester I had to pay when she was a freshman. Not even close.
My students would not want to live on campus more than the first year. Part of the growth process is getting out on your own and figuring it out. Them and their friends became so resourceful negotiating/signing a lease, group shopping for the furnishings, food, etc. It is their best part of being away. We would not look at schools with a requirement to stay on campus after first year, it is nice to have a choice, but would not want it to be required.
But perhaps this is another thread…
@doschicos Thanks for that update on Hford and BMC. Made me curious, so I checked Common Data. Hford has 99% on campus, BMC 93%. “Back in the day,” I would guess maybe 50+ students from each school lived off campus, so perhaps 5% (both schools were around 1000 students back then). Students had to get permission to move off campus, through a lottery, as there was a maximum number which was allowed to live to off campus. Separate from off campus life, Haverford had HPA (Haverford Park Apartments), which served the grown up life on “training wheels” but most of my friends had off campus apartments by senior year. Apartments in the big ole houses on College Ave across the street from Haverford were highly prized. Sounds like Haverford has changed its housing model – no surprise, since its been 35+ years.