The square footage per student
Former doubles might now be triples or quads. "As the economy was taking twists and turns, lots of colleges were trying to estimate how many students would return and how many new ones would come," says James A. Baumann, spokesman for the Association of College and University Housing Officers. "When you exceed your occupancy, the first step is to turn a double into a triple or take a study lounge at the end of a hall and put four students in it."
The square footage per student in new residence-hall construction has been declining for a decade, according to American School & University magazine.Students must adjust to cramped quarters serving as bedroom, study space, living room and place to party. The challenge: Where to fit piles of shoes, layers of bedding and tons of technology?
Victoria Stires, 17, of Great Falls will be sharing a room with two girls at UCLA this fall. "When I heard I had been assigned a triple, I was scared," says Stires. "I had requested a single, but I knew that was next to impossible." She is in the process of seriously editing her clothing.
