Navigating the College Housing Market: Experiences with Housing Pressures and Consequences for Students

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7. Belonging in Selective and Elite Institutions

Abstract

Existing research investigates housing experiences for a variety of renters, but few studies analyze how college students navigate the college housing market. Drawing on interviews with 40 undergraduate students from three universities, this study examines how they experience their college housing markets, including the pressures they face to find housing and the consequences for their mental health. Landlord practices, such as early lease negotiations, and university housing shortages contribute to their experiences of precarity, and these dynamics create stress and constant worry about finding a place to live. The findings have implications for understanding housing access during college. The findings also extend previous literature about the college experience by specifying institutional factors and interpersonal processes that shape student well-being.

Author

• Virginia Riel, North Carolina State University