Student Housing

It is a globally accepted fact that students, no matter which part of the globe they are from, are a poverty stricken lot. It is extremely rare for students to be well off, and even in the case of students who hail from rich families, there is a limit to the kind of allowance they receive. College is a particularly difficult time for students and for most of them, it is the first time they come into contact with any form of financial management. For the first time in their lives, they manage all their expenses, food clothing and shelter. And it is shelter, or more specifically student housing that takes up much of their time and worry.

Most colleges nowadays have eschewed expensive student hostels in favor of more affordable and a wider variety of student housing. For one thing, this frees the college from having to allocate expensive land and building resources to student hostels. And for another, the students too get more variety and a wider range of comfort when they are able to choose their own student housing. But considering the fact that in America, banks lend four times more money to car buyers than students, budgetary constraints are what keep students in hostels and dorms rather than in student housing.

I still remember when I was in college. It was rather uncommon then to have exclusive student housing. But having been to the dorm and having realized that it wasn’t really the most conducive environment, a couple of friends and I decided to get ourselves more suitable student housing. It was easier said than done. For one thing, like I said, the concept of student housing was relatively new. Home owners were not exactly thrilled to bits at the prospect of letting out their house to a bunch of hormone raging, college kids. Who knows what kind of weird acts we would be up to? But we finally managed to find a suitable student housing at a suitable price. It was small but comfortable, close to college to make travel a viable option, and far removed from the noise and distractions of college to make study a realistic possibility. Of course it took a lot more convincing to get our parents interested in the student housing as we had made this decision on our own. But in the end, it all worked out just fine.

Things are much better nowadays. Especially since colleges have more or less done away with halls of residence, student housing has become a viable option for many. And residents near colleges too have jumped at the opportunity to let out their homes to students. When three or more students take on or lease a house, they are able to pay much more in rental than say a family with one working member. And students are not picky about housing! Any place will do as long as it has all the basic creature comforts. After all, students worldwide are not known for their housekeeping skills. But the fact remains that students can exercise the option of looking for low cost, low maintenance student housing.