Meeting a growing demand in student housing
Offering the full college experience, attracting students outside traditional service area fuel interest in dorms
By CARISA CHAPPELL, Published September 10, 2009

The idea of student housing at community colleges has sometimes gotten a mixed reaction. But an influx of traditional-age students on campuses helped spur a national trend that shows a growing number of community colleges across U.S. starting to offer amenity-rich dormitories.

Without compromising their commuter culture, some two-year institutions want to give students the option of living on campus to allow them a “full college experience,” especially as the number of students who plan to eventually transfer to a four-year institution also increases.

Student housing also helps make colleges in isolated areas more attractive to international students who may have a hard time lining up a place to live ahead of time.

Florida Keys Community College (FKCC) was prompted to pursue student housing for several reasons, according to said Amber Ernst-Leonard, a spokesperson for the college.

“The linear geography of the Florida Keys makes it particularly challenging to attract students who are willing to commute,” she said.

Unlike most community colleges, FKCC cannot pull from a 360-degree surrounding area, Ernst-Leonard noted.

“We have centers in Middle Keys and Upper Keys. However, the main campus is located in Key West, at the southernmost end of the approximately 150-mile chain of islands,” she said.

FKCC has also expanded its marketing and recruitment efforts to out-of-state and out-of-area students, Ernst-Leonard said. The cost of living is generally higher in the Keys, and for many prospective students, housing availability and affordability are pivotal in their decision, she added.

“Currently, our recruiter works painstakingly with local renters and the college’s Facebook page to help find roommates and housing for a rapidly growing list of incoming students,” Leonard said.

Construction plans have not been finalized but the Island Living Campus Foundation was created a little less than a year ago to facilitate and oversee the development of a 100-bed dormitory at the Key West Campus. The college is currently narrowing its selection between two developers.  Leonard added that the financing structure for one is taxable and the other is tax-exempt, but both offer a unique set of pros and cons.

In California, students at Cerro Coso Community College (CCCC) can take advantage of an $8.5 million student housing complex that opened last year. The South Gateway Student Apartments were built by the Mammoth Lakes Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports higher education in the community.

This is the first community college student housing facility to open in California in more than two decades. Of the 110 community colleges in the state, 12 offer student housing.

Maya Schwartz, community manager of the Mammoth Lakes complex, said that the college had a great demand for housing, and the facility was 75 percent full in the spring. 

“This is a resort community with a population of about 8,000 people. Because it’s a vacation spot, it is hard to find options for students to live here,” she said.

The deluxe apartment-style housing units come with a state-of-the-art fitness center, game room, flat-screen televisions, a fireplace in the common area, private bathrooms and “an amazing view of the mountains,” Schwartz said.

The Association of College and University Housing Officers—International (ACHUO-I) has followed the trend as its community college membership has grown over the years. Of its 900 member institutions, 50 are community colleges, and that number is expected to grow, said James Baumann, a spokesperson for the association.

About 300 of the nation’s 1,200 community colleges offer some type of student housing, compared to 60 two-year colleges a decade ago, according to ACUHO-I. About half of those include campuses with 100 beds or fewer.

For several years, ACUHO-I has had a small college network for campuses with fewer than 500 beds. In response to two-year institutions’ offering student housing, AHUCO-I recently started a community college task force to examine the types of services and support that colleges will need.

“We’ve seen this as a growing niche as community colleges play a growing role in the United States education system,” Baumann said.

Some housing advocates argue that student housing helps to retain students because living on campus helps them connect more with the institution. Trends in new housing projects include features such as a welcoming lobby, small study rooms on each floor, community kitchens and apartment-style housing units.

“There are certain expectations from the millennial student, so it’s a balancing act,” Baumann said, explaining that campus housing comes with the challenge of building units that fit within the college’s budget, while considering students’ budgets and expectations.

The dorms at Joliet Junior College (JJC) in Illinois, which has offered housing for seven years, have definitely helped to attract more younger students, said Takeiya Renfrom, general manager of Centennial Commons student apartments.

“We have 283 beds and they typically fill up as the college and classes continue to grow,” she said.

While the dorms are mainly for full-time JJC students, other students attending area colleges and universities can stay in the dorms as long as they are taking at least a one credit course at JJC, Renfrom said.

Dorm amenities include a computer lab, pool, clubhouse, large courtyard area and volleyball court. The units come furnished and with Internet access.

Some community colleges target specific populations to live on campus. Itasca Community College in Minnesota offers housing for its engineering students. These students were spending a lot of time on campus finishing projects and doing lab work, so the college allowed them to live on campus. Itasca Hall houses 75 students and was funded through special grants for the colleges engineering program. The third floor of the engineering building is home to 33 students.

Frank Phillips College (Texas) opened a new student dorm several years ago specifically for first-generation, underprepared and low-income students. The idea there was that living together is conducive to academic success and offers opportunities to create learning communities. Other colleges are proposing housing for single parents with an onsite child care facility.

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