Refurbished lounges, modern kitchen conveniences and upscale gym facilities are not usually equated with college life. But as competition for quality students intensifies, these factors are becoming increasingly important.
Good professors and educational programs no longer seem to be enough to cut it in the world of higher education. Students today have more choices. According to Luther Turmelle’s article “Colleges keep raising the comfort level,” schools across the United States are finding that upscale hotel-like facilities are becoming essential components in attracting quality students.
This September, Wesleyan University in Conn. provided its students with large, flat-screen television sets in new dorm lounges and kitchens, as well as a new amenity-rich apartment complex.
New London-based Connecticut College established a brand new fitness center as a top priority. This trend is being followed all over as schools compete for the best and the brightest.
Douglas Toma is an associate professor at the University of Georgia’s Institute of Higher Education, which tracks trends in higher education, and he stresses the importance of the rankings for attracting quality students.
“The quality of students schools bring in each year is measured by publications like U.S. News and World Report,” he said. “If you’re not attracting a high quality of students, you’re not going to be able to raise your academic standings. For a school not to make these kinds of investments is shortsighted. Do you really want to be part of an administration at one of these schools when trustees find your ranking has slipped?”
Fairfield’s ranking has slipped in the past year, and one must wonder if the school will follow Toma’s advice. The Ignation Residential College is certainly a step above the rest of the residence halls, and yet it is not unusual to hear complaints from students residing in another of the campus residences. The freshmen who are presently dealing with forced triples certainly cannot be too pleased about the cramped living situation.
However, some students are seeing improvements. This year the lounges in Gonzaga and Regis both received comfy new furniture, an upgrade Campion already received last year. Laura Cantrell, associate director of Residence Life, explained that because the residence halls were built in the 1970s, there is only so much that can be done. However, Residence Life is trying to create nicer places for students to socialize.
“Every school is doing what they can to keep up with the times. Each year we have plans for improvements,” said Cantrell.
This year some improvements students can look forward to are TVs in laundry rooms and grills in the quad. Residence halls are also rationing money each year that can be used as the hall government chooses. One Gonzaga resident assistant mentioned the possibility of using this money towards the installation of soda dispensers in their lounge.
Toma attributes this trend to high expectations that go hand in hand with higher price-tags. No one wants to spend a small fortune to live in a cubicle.
Michelle Tumollos, a freshman at Loyola College in Maryland, is currently living in a suite complete with a bathroom and living room.
“I was torn between Fairfield and Loyola when I was deciding where to go this year,” said Tumollos. “Since the schools are so similar, it was the nicer dorms in Loyola that finally became the deciding factor.”
Mallory Reimers ’09, of Fairfield, feels differently.
“It’s about living a different life at school,” she said. “College life isn’t supposed to be like a hotel stay. There is definitely a lot more to it than that.”
As tuition increases, so will student expectations. Perhaps this is just a sign of the times: out with the old and in with the new. And hey, if flat-screen TVs are the new lounge necessity, I will not be complaining.
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