Living on campus has many benefits besides convenience alone.
Research conducted by San Diego State has shown that freshmen living on campus have a higher GPA and lower academic probation rates.
That research also shows students living on campus are more likely to return their sophomore year and stay steady on a path to graduation.
However, even with these benefits, SDSU should change the current system it uses for students’ residence hall assignments.
By choosing to alter its current system, SDSU would have the opportunity to allow students to benefit even more from living on campus in different ways.
Many other universities across the country allow their students to have the option to rank their residence hall preferences.
With this comes having the option to be able to pay more if a student wants to be placed in a nicer hall.
By changing this system SDSU would greatly increase profits brought in by the resident halls.
The extra money could even give SDSU the option to build newer dorms or renovate older dorms.
“Our current rate structure now will allow us to eventually invest in the improvement of all of the facilities,” said Eric J. Hansen , SDSU housing office director.
Students placed in a double room in the luxurious apartment-style dorm Granada are paying the same price as students placed in a double in the rundown Chapultepec or Tenochca.
While this works out great for the student placed in Granada, there are many students who would be willing to pay the extra money to ensure they are placed in a nicer dorm.
“We have found that students are now truly choosing the residential communities the best suites their interests,” Hansen said.
The current system only allows the student to input a ranking with preferences regarding whether he or she prefers a single, double or triple.
SDSU could also benefit from allowing students to rank the order in which dorms they would prefer to be placed.
Of course the preference would not be a guarantee that they would get their first choice.
If SDSU revamped its current assignment system, the number of dorm changes requested would decrease greatly due to the fact that a large majority of students would be happy with their first dorm assignment.
Granada or any other apartment-style dormitory will no longer be used for freshmen housing next year now that the Zura renovation is completed and South Campus Plaza will be completed in the fall.
In 2012, SDSU shifted to the current pay structure that allows students to select their dorm based off residential communities and their interests.
Basing residential communities off student interests is a great idea and SDSU would not have to change that in a new dormitory placement system.
Rather, SDSU could leave residential communities as a housing option and also give the option of requesting nicer dorms.
By allowing students to have the option to rank their dorm preferences, many more students would be happier with their living situation and, therefore, a happier student in general.
