The Student Housing Matters blog explores ideas with leaders in higher education and the student housing profession. This is the place to find stories from those who have worked in the field for many years, podcast interviews, and videos about relevant topics in the student housing world.

It’s about matters relating to on-campus student housing, as well as why quality on-campus student housing really matters. We want this blog to serve as a forum for sharing ideas and insights about how your on-campus student housing can do things beyond simply housing students. How it can be used as a more powerful tool to recruit and retain students on your campus. We look forward to you joining us in the conversation.

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Higher Education

Hopes and Worries

March 27, 2014

This “College Hopes and Worries 2014 Survey Report,” by the Princeton Review, offers some interesting perspectives on high school students applying to college, as well as the perspectives of their parents.   Here are some results I found interesting: Parents’ estimates of college costs were higher than the students. 89% of all respondents said financial…

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MARCH MADNESS IS HERE!!! Inside Higher Ed style

March 20, 2014

I couldn’t find a more topical article than this one featured in “Inside Higher Ed” which decides the winner of the March Madness brackets based on academic performance instead of athletic prowess. I won’t give away the winner until you have a chance to look at the brackets below, however it is not so surprising…

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Better Understanding Your International Students

January 23, 2014

Institutions across the US have increased the number of international students on their campuses. While these students are welcomed through admission, it is important for faculty and staff to remember that international students have needs both similar to and different from their American student counterparts. When I work with international students, I try to think…

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A CUNY Graduation Strategy Worth Sharing

January 10, 2014

Student Housing Matters is always eager to share higher-ed success stories with our readers because they are the essence of what this field of focus represents.  This article (linked below) published in the New York Times yesterday is a great example of a university seeing a challenge many of its students were (and still are)…

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Is your name on the list?

January 2, 2014

Ten colleges and universities who are getting creative and having fun on Twitter. In higher education, our consumers (students) are very tech savvy and high users of social media – this is not news to anyone. What is interesting however, is how many colleges/universities haven’t quite figured out how to successfully engage students (and alums)…

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Free is a Good Thing

November 22, 2013

The driving motivation behind launching the Student Housing Matters blog in 2012 was a desire to “give back” to higher education.  To provide a platform for those dedicated to strong on-campus housing programs to share ideas and encourage each other.   We also wanted the blog to reflect an important value we possess – that well…

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Great Events in Student Housing History

October 18, 2013

The Multi Family Executive magazine recently did a pretty neat infographic on “Great Events in Student Housing History.”  It shows significant milestones from residential living on campus, from the 23rd century until today. One such fun fact from the document: The first known residential university in the world was established in 470 AD in Bihar, India.…

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Seeing a Campus Through the Eyes of a High School Senior

October 11, 2013

Even though I have worked for an on-campus housing company for 18 years, I have always enjoyed taking campus tours with each of my three children.  I find it fascinating to see a new campus from their eyes and take the campus tour with them.  In the process, it helps me gain insight into what’s…

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How Are Students Paying For College Costs?

August 15, 2013

Interesting article on a recent survey by Citigroup and Seventeen magazine of high school seniors and college students regarding how they are paying (or planning on paying) for education. Here are some of the responses that grabbed my attention: Nearly 4 out of 5 college students are working part-time, but only 18 percent pay their…

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Director of UW-Platteville Residence Life Honored as Woman of the Year

August 5, 2013

Congratulations to Linda Mulroy-Bowden, Director of UW-Platteville Residence Life, for being named one of the two Women of the Year at UW-Platteville.   She has been with UW-Platteville since 1990, and as stated in the linked article, began her career there as an assistant director in student housing. Linda will be recognized for this award during…

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The New Normal

July 26, 2013

Very interesting article this week in the Wall Street Journal on the trend of parents giving their children less cash to pay for college expenses. According to this article, parents contributed $5,727 from income and savings in the 2012-13 academic year, compared to $8,752 in the 2009-10 academic year – a drop of $3,025. Interestingly,…

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Arabian Gulf Study Tour: Thinking Back

July 25, 2013

Now that I’ve returned from the Gulf Study Tour (and recovered from jetlag), I’ve been able to discuss my experience with colleagues who didn’t go on the trip. In doing so, I have had some interesting revelations that only time and reflection would allow. The first is that showing superior hospitality was incredibly important to…

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