These were selected as being among the swankiest dorms in the US: https://www.collegeconfidential.com/articles/living-in-luxury-on-campus/
For a select portion of the college student population, luxury on-campus living is just an extension of their home life or will be their introduction to a lifestyle which will be as good or better upon graduation. For the rest of the higher-educated masses, the post-graduation lifestyle will consist of either moving back home, having multiple roommates, or living in relative squalor (or a combo of any or all of these - try living and working in the Bay Area of California). Not sure how easy the transition is from country-club dorm living to the reality many graduates will have to face once they are launched into the work world.
Many of the masses of college students continue living where they were living before college (with parents for those entering college out of high school), because that is the only way they can afford to attend college (often a community college or a lower cost in-state public university within commuting range), or are constrained to do so by family, work, etc… So luxury or not dorms may not matter for them.
In my opinion, living in an environment with little amenities and small space is a gift in a way. While it may be annoying to have to deal with small spaces, cold water, or lack of comfort, it in a way builds character for college students. While it also builds character, it helps students not stay in the dorm all day and explore the campus, meet new friends, and use their resources that they are paying for around the college. For example, I could not study in my dorm because it was too small and I would constantly get distracted by my roommate. This caused me to leave my dorm and find other great places to study. I also learned to use the library and ended up staying there for hours actually being productive. These unsettling dorms also help college student gain goals when it comes to upgrading their lifestyles and working for what they want. Because of my lifestyle freshman year, I decided to lease my first apartment as a sophomore with my own room, bathroom, and a kitchen that I share with my fellow roommates. I would not trade my first dorm experience no matter how many cold showers I had to take and how many times I had to bump into my roommate when trying to leave or simply get to the other side of the room.
The furniture at SUNY ESF dorm (there is only one) was done by Stickley. Each double also comes with its own bathroom and refrigerator.
- head bursts through the door *
Did someone say luxury on campus?
I’ll take one, please.
Thx.
As builders of off-campus pupil housing maintain to outdo each other with greater opulent facilities, many college college students are residing a extra high priced existence on campus than they’ll be able to stay for years after commencement
I think schools should try to strike a balance: no one wants to live in a ridiculously-small room with no air conditioning and two showers for the entire hall, but a palatial residence hall is unnecessary. (I’ve seen both on college tours and didn’t like them.) However, a modestly-sized, relatively new-ish dorm with some simple perks – such as study rooms or maybe a ping pong table or a TV in the basement – are fine, IMO.
It’s nice that more and more schools are offering several dorm styles/levels – students can choose older, community-style dorms to save money or a larger, suite-style room if they’d like to pay a little more to have their own bathroom, for instance.
I read an article somewhere (possibly linked on CC, I forget) with a quote from a college rep that basically said that colleges build fancy dorms to attract students, but in reality, most students will live in very low-quality dorms IF the price is right. The school built an “economy” dorm and both the students and the school saved money.
Side note: college cafeterias are also being rapidly luxury-ified. Personally, I’m not complaining 