First-year college students often are expected or required to live in dormitories. In the rest years, it's usually up to those students to decide whether to live on or off campus.
But some schools don't provide an option and require four years of on-campus living for full-time students. Living on campus has been shown to increase retention（保留） and attendance rates among freshman and second-year students, according to a 2021 report. There are exceptions, however. At some colleges, students may be freed from the requirement if they are, for instance, commuters （通勤生）, fifth-year seniors, at least 23 years of age or legally married.
Residential housing at colleges is not limited to shared rooms and bathrooms. Alternatives include flats, apartments, Greek houses or living-learning communities for students with shared interests. On-campus students also have access to services and resources such as residence life staff who can help if a housing issue arises. When students live in a community, they are forced to live with different people, learn more about themselves and about the others, and tell each other their stories.
On the other hand, off-campus living provides students with more independence, as they are not constrained by school housing policies. Off-campus students gain more real-world experience in areas like paying their own bills, finding renter's insurance, cooking their own meals and negotiating or reviewing contracts. If students are choosing to live off campus, they should really think it through and talk to someone that lived. off campus. Do their homework and look at all the costs before they make that decision. Make sure, too, that they are choosing people that they can live with.
At first glance, off-campus housing can appear less expensive. But the additional expenses outside of rent—like utilities, groceries, Internet access, cable and furniture—are often overlooked. To reduce off-campus costs, some students choose to overpack houses or apartments, sometimes with four or five people in a two-bedroom house. Unlike off-campus housing, the total cost of living on campus is typically all-inclusive, coveting rent, utilities, furniture, Wi-Fi and a meal plan.
