Ellen Moriarty

“Why are dorms so ugly?” is the question I’m asked most frequently when fellow professionals learn of my specialty in student housing. It’s not unfair: most of the residence halls we all remember from college were bland on the outside, dank on the inside, and smelly throughout. But I only recently started to consider the question seriously. Well, why?

Student housing has evolved significantly in the last generation, and campuses are more aware than ever of the growing discrepancy between contemporary new facilities and their older, more traditional stock. As they examine the challenge of facility updates, many housing administrators are daunted by construction expense, schedule, and disruption in bed count. And while they know, inherently, that more capacity is needed, the point may be difficult to argue to university administrators. What… Show more

Student housing has evolved significantly in the last generation, and campuses are more aware than ever of the growing discrepancy between contemporary new facilities and their older, more traditional stock. As they examine the challenge of facility updates, many housing administrators are daunted by construction expense, schedule, and disruption in bed count. And while they know, inherently, that more capacity is needed, the point may be difficult to argue to university administrators. What kind of housing do we need? Is our current model the right mix? Would upper-division students really return to campus if we had the capacity? How could we handle bed loss if we must take a hall offline for renovations? Show less

Current student housing trends indicate that more basic, affordable housing is back at the top of demand for value-conscious students. That’s great news all around, and not simply for the reduction of student debt.

What's great about student bathrooms? What's not so great? Here are some considerations, and responses.

When enrollment exceeds capacity in student housing, there are several ways to approach the overflow. Some work better than others.