Students must move after Freshman year?

Marian
Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:36:08 +0000

If the school is in a college town, most of the apartments near the campus will probably be furnished. They are intended for students. Often, they have larger numbers of bedrooms than typical apartments do and are intended for group living. Three, four, and even five-bedroom apartments are common. And yes, often you can find off-campus apartments that are closer to the academic buildings than some of the outlying dorms – both of my kids did this, at different universities.

I wouldn’t necessarily count on saving money, though. Off-campus housing may or may not be cheaper than on-campus housing. Also, both of my kids found that their food costs went up when they moved off campus because they did not have cars and did not have a supermarket within walking distance. So they were paying premium prices for takeout food and food sold in on-campus dining facilities that take cash.