Fun fact: Did you know Undergraduate students who live in University Housing for at least two years are more likely to graduate, and they’re also more likely to graduate in four years than students who only live for one year?

This may sound hard to believe, but it actually makes total sense when you consider all of the academic resources University Housing has to offer to ensure your success in your academic pursuits! Take a look at some of those resources to see how you can take full advantage of them as a resident!

Libraries

If you ever need a break from reading your textbooks, why not check something more interesting out from the library? When you live with University Housing, you also gain special access to two residence hall libraries - one in Ikenberry Commons and the other in Illinois Street Residence Halls. Here, you can check out a variety of different books, movies, board games and more. Just bring your iCard!

Plenty of Study and Destress Spaces!

One of the first things I noticed after moving into an apartment was just how many study lounges each University Residence Hall has. I came from Nugent Hall, which is connected to the Student Dining and Residential Programs building (which on its own has TONS of study spaces), and one of the things I miss most about Nugent is how many lounges they had. Whether it was the mini glass lounge near the elevators, the basement recreation room or the corner lounges that I spent many nights studying and inevitably watching movies with friends, University Housing lounges are where I made some of my favorite memories freshman year.

Obviously, every residence hall is different, but one thing is for sure no matter where you live: You will have places to study, relax and decompress within your own hall! These places are also great for meeting new people too, and I highly recommend that you learn where these lounges are located within your hall.

Academic Mentors and Events

Another benefit of living with housing is access to numerous mentorship opportunities and events that’ll help you develop both professionally and academically. For example, when I lived in the Business LLC last year, we had several professional development opportunities throughout the year such as a course planning event (with free tacos!), major exploration zoom workshops and more! Living with University Housing means that you’re surrounded by figures willing to help you out in any way possible such as your Resident Advisors, Resident Director and fellow students living in the halls. Thus, when making your housing decision, consider looking into the different kinds of opportunities and events the residence hall puts on during the year to help students achieve academic and personal success. And make the most of these opportunities too! You never know what you might learn or what amazing people you might meet.

LLCs to Explore Your Interests

Finally, one of the biggest perks of living with University Housing is the chance to join a specific LLC geared towards your interests. University Housing offers 11 unique learning-living communities (LLCs) covering a wide range of interests, everything from global exploration to sustainability to health exploration to more! It’s the easiest way to meet students with similar passions and interests as yourself, as well as connect with more students that are potentially within your major.

Plus, a great benefit of being in these LLCs are LLC-specific events catered towards LLC residents. The Innovation LLC, for instance, puts on invention-based competitions throughout the year that challenges its residents to come together to prototype ideas and design new products. Residents of the Unit One LLC, as another example, are able to gain access to Allen Hall’s variety of creative amenities such as its recording studio and ceramics lab. Being a member of these LLCs gives you access to exclusive opportunities, events and amenities, and I’d highly recommend you do more research into the different LLCs if you’re interested! It’s just another way to find a smaller community within the larger community that is your residence hall and University Housing in general.