Accommodation Options
There are a number of options available to students when considering where to live whilst attending and studying at a university or other tertiary institution. Generally speaking, the options are:
- On Campus and within the grounds of the university or tertiary institution but single style accommodation (your own room)
- On Campus and within the grounds of the university or tertiary institution but shared style accommodation (sharing an apartment-like room with others)
- Off Campus and outside the grounds of the university or tertiary institution but single style accommodation (your own room)
- Off Campus and outside the grounds of the university or tertiary institution but shared style accommodation (sharing an apartment-like room with others)
- Off Campus independent living (alone in own residence in unit, house or other dwelling independent of the university or tertiary institution)
- Off Campus independent living (sharing with others in own residence in unit, house or other dwelling independent of the university or tertiary institution)
- Off Campus private provider accommodation (various options through an independent private accommodation provider)
All of the above options (excluding off campus independent living), may also offer an option for non-catered, partly-catered or fully-catered living.
Some universities, such as the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland, will have up to 10 or more Residential Colleges on the campus grounds, many of which house students who are studying at other institutions.
The most time-efficient method to research accommodation options is to visit the actual university or tertiary institution website and search or find the ‘accommodation tab’ and look through the options. Each option mentioned above will attract a different weekly cost, with the single and fully catered options generally attracting the higher costs. Off campus independent-living in a house or unit may also attract significant costs depending on the host city real estate market, i.e. Sydney and Melbourne are often considered the most high cost cities to live in while rural and regional centres are often considered lower cost centres to live in.
Be aware that many options for accommodation require up-front bonds, payments, and other deposits; make sure you do your research and try to visit your accommodation in person to ‘see for yourself’ before making a firm decision.
Have you ever wondered what life may be like living at a College on a University Campus?
In the following video, we meet a Raymont College Student and her parents who describe the experience at Raymont College, very centrally located in Brisbane
In the following video we see some clips and vision of life at The Women’s College, which sits within the University of Queensland (UQ)
An example of university on campus accommodation information, courtesy of the University of Newcastle
