Humidity lingers in the communal bathrooms like a Midwestern August day. The damp fog never disintegrates and the floor is often spotted with puddles despite the central drain. For many college students, shared bathrooms in their first dorm building are a painful reality that can’t be avoided.
But for some, including students at Texas A&M University, Arizona State, the University of North Florida and more, thoughts of drippy bathrooms and crowded cinder block dorms are far away.
Tennis courts, lazy rivers, virtual reality dorm rooms and sky decks are normal to these students experiencing the amenities race, the latest competition in attracting students to colleges.
“The rationale for building fancier dorms and rolling out plush amenities is that doing so might entice prospective students — especially those who can afford to pay full tuition — in a competitive higher-education market,” according to The Atlantic.
Melissa Harden, a North Central senior living in New Hall, would love the perks of the amenities race but sees little point.
“Are people going to take their textbooks and study in the lazy river?” said Harden.
College is meant to be fun, but the main purpose is to learn, said Harden.
“Can you imagine living in something so nice for four years and then you go out into the real world, you’re $100,000 in debt and you have a McDonald’s job and you’re in a terrible small apartment … you’d just want to go back. I guess it’d be good for the college,” said Harden.
If Harden had it her way, she’d opt for cleanliness, practicality and room to breathe.
“My definition of luxury is a nice spacious room, not too crowded, and a window so it doesn’t feel like a jail, but I think that’s required because of fire safety laws,” she laughs.
Simple luxuries are nice, Harden agrees, such as the difference between having her own kitchen to cook in and having to use a communal kitchen.
However, data shows students living on campus have “higher GPAs, graduate at higher rates and are more satisfied with their college experience.” It is also easier for students to connect when fun options are available within their resident halls, rather than across campus, or not available at all.
“I think it would be a nice benefit, but I don’t see it as something being high in demand,” said Harden. “It’s balancing luxury with student expectations.”
