The competition: College living turns lavish

[Beanblossom1]

These complexes are amazing (in comparison to traditional dorms). Heck, these sound nicer than what I'm living in now and I'm 31 yrs old with a masters degree. I lived in an apt-style dorm in college, but it was nothing like the ones described.

I'm chuckling over the comments about the sticker shock these students will face when they are no longer on their parents payroll. I was watching a show today on MTV and these kids were crying and being total brats because their parents wouldn't buy them a new car for their 16th b-day - one girl expected a Versace dress for something (maybe prom - I missed that part). I'm guessing they will pitch a fit if their parents don't put them up in a Trump Tower when they go off to school. I agree with the poster who said they are in for a shock when they can only afford a 400 sq ft apt upon graduation - and in some parts of the country, they may be sharing that with someone because its so expensive. Some of my best college memories are from doing something (or living somewhere) el cheapo - we were all in the same boat and had to figure out how to have fun on minimal or no cash. What ever happened to those days?
And looking back, it taught us a lot about money mgt, etc.

[carnation]

This thread is over 12 years old and I know of so many universities' perfectly decent dorms that have been razed since that time and replaced with really fancy ones. Some colleges feel like they can't attract great students without them.

There's a great two-year college in the state that now has a dorm that looks like a Disney hotel. Huge lake with a fountain in front--and why?

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by carnation

This thread is over 12 years old and I know of so many universities' perfectly decent dorms that have been razed since that time and replaced with really fancy ones. Some colleges feel like they can't attract great students without them.

There's a great two-year college in the state that now has a dorm that looks like a Disney hotel. Huge lake with a fountain in front--and why?

Carnation, how old is that two-year college and have they always had dorms available for students?

In our area there are no dorms at the two-year school, and in the really old days it was more commonly referred to as a commuter school. It's truly still a commuter school, with the bonus of online classes.

I don't believe they have any plans for building student housing, as there are many available apartments/condos/etc. for attending students who feel the need for same. However, our two-year school has been vastly improving old, and building new, infrastructures over the past dozen years while expanding the library, arts center, and sports complex.

[carnation]

Well, I mined their website and couldn't find out how old they are--it's been quite awhile and they now offer some four-year programs. Fabulous school!

I found a photo of the dorm--go to the bottom of the page. http://www.abac.edu/student-life/hou.../abac-lakeside

[33girl]

All the SSHE schools are doing this and I don’t think it’s helping enrollment one whit. “If you build it they will come” was a fantasy movie, silly administrators

Plus, if the population bust mentioned in the other thread keeps up, these buildings will be hurting for residents sooner rather than later.

[GreekOne]

Originally Posted by carnation

This thread is over 12 years old and I know of so many universities' perfectly decent dorms that have been razed since that time and replaced with really fancy ones. Some colleges feel like they can't attract great students without them.

There's a great two-year college in the state that now has a dorm that looks like a Disney hotel. Huge lake with a fountain in front--and why?

I had a conversation about this with a friend who worked as an administrator at one of our large state schools. She asked me to describe the house that I grew up in (answer 2 parents, 4 kids, 1 bathroom). Then she asked me to describe the house that my children have been raised in (2 parents, 3 kids, 6 bathrooms). She said, "See, this is what today's students have been raised to expect. They don't want to live somewhere that they have to share a bathroom with 50 other people."

It became very clear why the administrators are being forced to raze these old buildings. We have raised a generation with different expectations about their standard of living. When you are 17 and evaluating colleges, this can impact college choice as much, if not more, than the quality of the education.