Of the 8,529 juniors and seniors that attend Ohio University, there are 436 that live in residence halls.
This is an increase of 40 students from last year, Pete Trentacoste, executive director of Housing and Residence Life, said in an email.
“We hope to grow that number some more for next year and will be looking at measures to increase upperclass interest in our offerings for future years,” Trentacoste said in an email.
Out of the 436 upperclassmen living in residence halls, only 204 of them are student staff members.
OU requires students to live in residence halls for two years. They have started advertising to have more upperclassmen live on campus in an attempt to fill some of the available spaces. Housing and Residence Life has been more public with the availability of beds on campus to juniors and seniors in the past two years. Whenever there is space available, they increase marketing efforts, Trentacoste said.
“At the beginning of every fall, Housing and Residence Life projects available space for non-required students to live on campus (juniors/seniors) the following year,” Trentacoste said in an email.
The university has required students to live on campus since the 1970s, Trentacoste said in an email. Other schools, like Ohio State University, have transferred to this model. OU has found “students that live on campus their first and second year are retained at a higher rate and generally have a higher GPA than their commuting peers,” Trentacoste said in an email.
There are two living spaces on campus for upperclassmen, which are located at 4 University Terrace and Hoover House.
Megan Greatorex, a senior studying psychology and communication sciences and disorders, said her mom was worried about her living off-campus and was concerned about dangerous neighborhoods. The best part about living on campus is the meal plan for Greatorex.
“Flex points can get you coffee at all times of the day,” Greatorex said.
She said living on campus is convenient because the costs come out of loan checks instead of coming out of pocket. Greatorex lives in Hoover House, but most of her classes are on West Green, which she considers to be the same commute as living off campus.
