In recent years, Binghamton University has shown a tendency in students moving off campus earlier in their college careers, but now the administration is trying to curb that trend.

According to Brian Rose, vice president for student affairs, fewer students are living on campus their junior and senior years.

‘We looked at 10 years of data, 1999 to 2009,’ he said. ‘The 10-year average indicated that 28 percent of students who lived on campus in their first year stayed on campus for at least three years, but the rate in the last of the 10 years indicated that only 21 percent stayed for at least three years.’

In examining why students choose to move off campus, University officials found that the most important variable in a student’s decision is privacy. Off-campus housing provides students with the desirable options of single bedrooms and private or semi-private bathrooms.

Jordan Teitelbaum, a senior majoring in accounting, has lived off campus in University Plaza since the beginning of his junior year.

‘I moved off campus for added freedom, a kitchen and to have my own bedroom and bathroom,’ Teitelbaum said.

Binghamton officials are working to reverse the trend and keep upperclassmen on campus by building new on-campus accommodations for students. According to Rose, the East Campus Housing Project, currently in progress, will provide space for nearly 3,000 more students to live on campus.

‘The ‘newness factor’ we know will be appealing. The University is also redesigning the Dickinson buildings to include a significant number of single bedrooms which will give students who are looking for more privacy after their second year in campus housing more options to stay on campus.’

Financial motivations are certainly a factor in the attempt to keep students on campus, as student residence hall fees go directly to Binghamton, and, according to Rose, too many vacancies in campus housing could prove harmful to the University.

But there are also other reasons why having upperclassmen on campus is desirable in the eyes of the administration.

According to Rose, the residence communities are designed to mix students across all class years, intentionally avoiding separating freshmen into first-year residence halls. Having juniors and seniors on campus encourages mentoring between older and newer students through participation in residence-associated organizations like community governments, Discovery programs and learning communities.

‘It is important to the educational design of our residential communities that we maintain a reasonable mix of students across class years,’ Rose said.

Though it remains to be seen whether or not the University’s efforts to keep students living on campus longer will be fruitful, Rose and the BU Council are confident about the future.

‘We do believe we will be able to provide desirable options on campus for more upperclass students through the East Campus Housing project,’ Rose said.