Freshmen to live on campus

Chico State University may require all freshman students to live on campus beginning in a couple of years, President Paul Zingg said recently. Speaking during an April 30 panel discussion, he said the university intended to increase the number of residence halls to accommodate most new freshman.

University spokesman Joe Wills later said, after consulting with housing head David Stephen, that “it may be more than two years out” before there will be sufficient beds to implement such a mandate. The university currently has 1,700 beds available for freshmen and is adding another 270 by next school year. This year’s freshman class is estimated to be 2,600, up 100 from last year, said Admissions Director John Swiney.

The university long has been under pressure to provide more student housing and decrease pressures on surrounding neighborhoods. Besides, said Wills, “research shows that the residential experience has a positive effect in terms of persistence [i.e., staying in school] and higher satisfaction.”