How to Decide Between Living On-Campus or Off-Campus

So you’ve made it to college and are ready to begin the next chapter in your adult life. There will be plenty of big decisions to make throughout your college years and housing is only the start. Moving away from home and trying to navigate the new responsibilities of being a college student can be challenging, which is why it’s important to understand the different options out there.

Early in your college career you may not have a choice of where you live or for how long, but once the decision does fall into your hands, you’ll want to be prepared. Time to ask yourself the question: should I be living on-campus or off-campus?

What’s On-Campus Housing?

On-campus housing is typically any housing owned by the university. This includes dorms, upperclassmen apartments, and even graduate/family housing. These buildings are usually close to campus and have a central location perfect for walking to class or close to the university bus system.

What’s Off-Campus Housing?

Off-campus housing is any housing not owned by the university. This includes houses owned by rental companies and apartment buildings. Even though a housing option might be considered “off-campus”, you may still have a central location perfect for walking to classes. It’s common for college communities to have lots of off-campus housing options as many students nearing the end of their undergraduate careers prefer to live in those homes.

On vs. Off Campus

The decision of on versus off campus housing is solely based on preference as there’s a lot of benefits and drawbacks for either living situation. The key is figuring out what pros outweigh the cons in either situation.

Living On-Campus

Pros

Let’s start with the pros form living on-campus.

Convenience

As mentioned before, on-campus housing usually is located in the heart of campus giving you easy access to classes, study spots, student activities, and other campus amenities (like the gym). You often don’t have to worry about commuting, traffic, or parking because everything will be in walking distance or can be reached by the campus bus system.

Community

On-campus housing options will only include other people affiliated with the university. This makes it easy to build relationships and a community with other students, faculty, and staff as they will likely be your new neighbor. Because you’ll be surrounded by other people in the university community, you’ll be more likely to hear about events and social activities where you can branch out further.

Academic support

You can easily connect with professors and academic advisors for help and guidance. Not to say that this isn’t possible when you don’t live on-campus, but you may be more likely to use these resources when it’s less of an inconvenience location wise to seek out the extra help.

Safety and security

Living on-campus can offer a sense of security. Most university housing will require IDs to swipe into the building and have 24/7 help on call in case of any emergency. The university will also have lots of surveillance cameras, so you can be comfortable knowing that nothing will happen without the proper safety considerations in place.

Cost-effective

Compared to apartments or rental properties, on-campus housing tends to be more cost effective. rent and utilities are typically combined into one cost, and with such great location you won’t have to worry about personal transportation. Many on-campus housing options will also have a dining plan which could save you a ton of money and time compared to if you had to grocery shop and cook.

Immersive experience

Living on-campus is a fairly normalized part of the college experience and offers students the ability to fully engage with campus life. You’ll live with people you may not have met otherwise and have experiences that push you out of your comfort zone.

Cons

Limited space

When deciding to live on-campus, you likely won’t have much of a say is exactly where you live. Dorm rooms and university housing is often small and shared with another person/people. This can make organization and space somewhat of a challenge. For tips on how to handle storage in a small space, read this post.

Lack of autonomy

Like with any housing situation, there are strict rules and regulations for university housing (usually more strict than living in a rental). This can include restrictions on guests, curfew, allowed items, etc.

Distractions

Living with sometimes hundreds of other people who are simultaneously living completely different lives can end in many distractions. Unless it’s quiet hours, you can’t control what goes on outside of your personal space. Living nearby so many other students can create distractions that may impact your ability to study and focus on academic responsibilities while at home.

Lack of diversity

In early years, there’s sure to be tons of freshmen coming into dorm situations coming from a multitude of backgrounds. If you continue to live on-campus beyond that, you might find that everyone’s more recent experiences begin to converge since living in the same area. Getting a change of scenery and people in off-campus housing may continue to grow your exposure and perspective.

Food options

Lack of privacy

Living in a shared space can mean limited privacy. While some on-campus housing will have suite style bathrooms, others will have hall communal bathrooms. Either way, you won’t have a bathroom to yourself which may be an adjustment. Having to share a room also means adjusting to new living habits.

Living Off-Campus

Pros

More space

In an off-campus house or apartment you’ll have more control over the number of rooms you have. This way if you’re moving in with friends or staying solo you can choose the rooming situation that potentially offers you more privacy and storage.

Flexibility

More autonomy

There are way less rules and restrictions when living off-campus. Living off-campus can provide more independence and autonomy, because you won’t always have to abide by the rules set in on-campus housing. For example, you can light candles in your own personal place. Of course, there will still be rules and general considerations you should have since you’ll likely still have communal spaces, but the restrictions will likely be reduced.

Cost-effective

While on-campus housing is also cost-effective, off-campus housing can be too for other reasons. Depending on the location and how far away from campus you’re willing to live, off-campus housing can be less expensive than on-campus housing, especially if you have roommates and split costs.

Remember, if you decide to live somewhere where campus is not in walking distance, while the price will be less expensive you may have to consider transportation costs.

More diverse community

Living off-campus can allow you to interact with a more diverse community of people, including families, professionals, and other students from different universities. Again this may vary depending on how far off campus you choose to go, but in comparison to living on-campus, your neighbors have a greater likelihood of being in phases of life much different than your own.

More food options

While the appeal of not having to cook because of a dining plan is nice, sometimes cooking your favorite meal exactly how you like it is better. If you decide to bring your own form of transportation, you’ll also have wide access to surrounding restaurants.

More privacy

Say goodbye to the communal showers of dorm life. Off-campus housing can provide more privacy and fewer distractions. This allows you to focus on academic responsibilities and personal pursuits. You may also be able to have your own personal room which gives you more space to study or wind down.

Cons

Commute

Living off-campus can mean a longer commute to classes and other campus amenities, which can be time-consuming and expensive. Depending on how far off-campus you go, this could be only an additional few minutes to your walk. BUT if you live further you may have to think about the time and cost associated with parking on campus which typically isn’t fun.

Limited access to resources

Living off-campus may limit your access to resources such as academic support services, information about campus events, and student organizations. Instead of constantly seeing advertisements, you may have to take more time networking and using social media to figure out what is happening on campus.

More responsibility

With living off-campus comes more responsibility. Unless your landlord operates otherwise, you’ll have to handle household bills like water and electricity. Also if anything happens, there won’t be an abundance of maintenance staff waiting to help. You’ll have to contact your landlord and schedule a maintenance visit. Not to mention, your bathroom will no longer be cleaned everyday, you’ll have to take on more responsibility with keeping the home tidy.

Isolation

In the event that you don’t room with other people, living off-campus can feel extremely isolating. You’ll have to put a lot more energy into maintaining relationships and forming social opportunities when there’s not always someone around in the same phase of life as you. While living off-campus does come with more peace and privacy, you may have to put forth more effort socially to maintain a healthy community.

Safety concerns

Unlike living on-campus, your off-campus housing probably won’t have as much security. Especially if you live in a house (compared to an apartment) you may have to take extra safety precautions like a ring doorbell or secure locks for all doors and windows.

Potential conflicts

Living with roommates in off-campus housing can lead to conflicts. Everyone grows up with different home schedules and cleaning habits which may cause tension if roommate styles conflict. Making sure you’re compatible with your roommates is important as well as open and honest communication early about how you all expect the house to function.

Uncertainty

Off-campus housing can be more uncertain than on-campus housing. There can be competition when signing leases and you may end up in situations where you have to find a new place to live each year. Moving is never easy or fun, so the uncertainty of off-campus housing can be an inconvenience.

There truly is no right or wrong when it come to living on or off campus. Your decision should be based on your needs and wants at the specific phase of life you’re currently in. With these pros and cons in mind for each of the living situations, making a decision can be much easier.