On- versus Off-Campus Living: A Serious Question
It’s getting down to the end of the first semester and many students have a common interest; living situation for next year.
Husson University and New England School of Communications has roughly a combined student body of 2,500, according to Trudy Mcleod, Daina Allen and Katie Leighton. Mcleod is the Admissions Operation Coordinator at Husson, Allen is the Assistant Registrar at NESCom, while Leighton is the Assistant Director of Finical Aid at NESCom. Collectively, they also calculated that 36 percent of the combined student body lives in one of the three dorm halls.
Many students like the fact of waking up and walking a few feet to class. This is a perk of living on-campus. Second year Husson student, Kevin Hill, takes advantage that his dorm is next to his classrooms.
“I don’t have to worry about going to start my car and warming it up if it’s cold out. [I] just get up, roll out of bed, get in the shower, and head to class. I just find it easier than driving.”
Second year Husson student Alecia Coleman agrees, “You’re stuck here the whole day if you have classes throughout the day. You’re not going to want to go back and forth driving.”
First year NESCom students and roommates, Jared Quirion and Brandon LeClair stress that driving to school isn’t that big of a deal.
“We live like a mile and a half away from campus,” explains LeClair. “If the lights are going our way, it’s a three minute drive,” adds Quirion.
One issue that pertains to on and off-campus living students is the parking situation here at Husson. Both categories of students agree that parking is an issue that the administration needs to take a look at.
“That’s the one thing that sucks about living off-campus. It sucks ‘cause there is no parking,” stresses Quirion.
Second year Husson student, Jesse Cullivan, also believes that parking is the worst thing about living off-campus. “I’ve been trying to ride my [pedal] bike to school to save on gas, that and the fact that it sucks parking here on campus.”
Students who live on campus feel the same way. Hill explains that the parking is so bad on campus that he doesn’t even move his truck when he gets a parking spot. Coleman thinks that the parking could be better if students who live in Bell Hall parked in the upper parking lot of Bell Hall. She says that they park in front of their dorms and it causes a snowball effect that makes Carlisle Hall students have to park in front of Hart Hall and causes Hart students to park either at NESCom or at the lower parking lot.
Money is a huge factor that plays into whether a student lives on or off-campus. Husson’s room and board is $6 thousand a year. This covers living expenses, media uses such as internet and cable, utilities and a meal plan. That figures out to be roughly $777 a month. Rent typically ranges anywhere from $200-500 a month depending on how many roommates there are and if utilities are included or not. Cullivan, Quirion and LeClair all stressed that living in an apartment that is cheaper than room and board was the biggest reason for them to live off-campus.
Student Activities at Husson is constantly offering activities for students to participate in. Whether it is clubs, comedians, open mic night or whatnot, almost every weeknight is hosting a new event. On-campus students believe that living-on campus really helps keep them informed with what’s going on.
“There are flyers around in Peabody and the dorms. Then student activities puts out that board letting us know about activities,” says Coleman.
Off-campus students believe that they aren’t as informed as on-campus students, yet they still have a good grasp of what the activities are.
“Were not as informed [as on-campus students] because we don’t have the word coming from other students in the dorms. But we’re informed by our teachers and stuff like that,” says Quirion.
LeClair explains that since he’s part of the radio program at NESCom, he knows of most things going on around campus because WHSN promotes student activities.
Both categories of students express that on and off-campus students both have to deal with roommates so that isn’t much of a factor. In a dorm, the roommates will be forced to live closer together, but the noise, tidiness and alone time issues are still there. Quirion and LeClair say that the only thing that factors in is who is doing the dishes.
Social life plays a huge role in the debate too. Hill owes many of his current friends to the fact that he lives on-campus.
“You kind of hang with a clique, like your floor. You’re submersed with a lot of people, and you either get along with them or don’t. You get to meet a lot more people here, whereas off-campus you don’t have specific people on your floor that you can relate to.”
Coleman agrees, “For me, last year I met all of my friends. The people that I became good friends with were the people I met throughout the dorm not in class.”
Cullivan takes full advantage of the social life of living-off campus. “You can have a lot more people over to the apartment than in a dorm. The night life at Husson isn’t cool. Sitting on someone’s bed watching TV isn’t fun.”
Collectively, on-campus students enjoy the fact that there is the dining commons that prepares all the meals for them, but they get tired of the food they offer. Stealing the delicious Andy Sandwiches has become a past time for the students of Husson and NESCom though. On the other hand, off-campus students enjoy that they can make whatever they want, but food expenses add up quickly. They also don’t have to deal with the freshman fifteen.
On-campus living versus off-campus living is merely a preference of choice. Both have perks, yet both have drawbacks. It seems like most students spend a few years in the dorms, then end their schooling living off-campus. There is one major issue that off-campus living has over on-campus living.
Bathroom accommodations are most definitely a downfall of living on-campus. Cullivan, LeClair, and Quirion all stressed how they kept their bathroom almost spotless. First year NESCom student, Luke Zale, finds the dorm bathrooms are a shortcoming of living on-campus,
“Everyday there’s at least one stall that has fecal matter on it.”
article by Christian Wagner
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