Residence Life for New Students

Benefits of Living in College Residence Halls

(Through the Eyes of the Educational Research Literature)

Educational research has found that living in college residence halls during the undergraduate years has a significant impact on student’s development and satisfaction.

Students living in residence halls are:

• More likely to complete college
• More likely to complete their degree in four years
• More likely to be involved in academic and non-academic campus activities
• More likely to be satisfied with their overall college experience (impacting their feelings about the college as alumni)
• More likely to form out-of-the-classroom relationships with faculty members, which has been found to impact academic performance and persistence
• More likely to achieve a higher GPA (due to an increased connection to faculty members)
• More likely to be satisfied with curriculum and instruction

In addition, studies have shown that living in college residence halls:

• Impacts the development of the personal skills that are necessary for work and family relationships after college
• Increases students’ support for involvement with different racial and cultural groups
• Has a strong positive impact on the development of leadership abilities
• Has strong positive effects on students’ self-discovery and personal development
• Increases the opportunities for the kinds of academic, intellectual, and social involvement that in turn directly enhance the development of principled moral judgment
• Is the most important environmental characteristic associated with finishing college for those students who lived in residences during their freshman year

The educational research literature supports Bethel’s belief that living in college residence halls contributes to the kind of whole person development that Bethel University values and encourages through our mission statement.

Austin, A.W.  (1993). What Matters in College? Four Critical Years Revisited. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass Publishers.
Pascarella, E.T., and Terenzini, P.T. (1991). How College Affects Students. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Upcraft, M.L., Gardner, J.N., and Associates. (1989). The Freshman Year Experience. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.