With increasing frequency, schools across the nation are offering single occupancy rooms to their students, which may be depriving them of an important experience in college.
Spencer Kiessling was one of many students who had a bad experience with his roommate. The former University of South Carolina freshman told the Atlantic he did not "want to have to share a room again."
"The biggest advantage of your own room is, obviously, the privacy," said Kiessling, now a junior environmental science student at the University of Southern Indiana. "Also, it makes it a lot easier for me to focus when I need to get work done."
Like Kiessling, students who do not want to risk a bad roommate experience, or who jut want more privacy, can opt for a "super single" room. More and more schools are using traditional residence halls, with rooms built for two people, for students who want to room by themselves.
Glenn Gray, executive director of the University of Northern Iowa's Department of Residence, told the Atlantic the school's Shull Hall has two-person rooms repurposed as super singles.
"Occupying the room with a roommate is the exception in this hall," he said, noting the super single rooms are "a point of distinction in our invitations to transfer students-a growing portion of our new students."
Marcia Baxter Magolda, a professor at Miami University in Ohio, is one of the many who find this growing trend of living in a dorm room alone troublesome. She has conducted a 27-year study on the social development of young adults and said interpersonal communication helps a young person develop their inner voice. In other words, being around other people helps people think critically and look at issues from multiple perspectives.
"Learning to interact effectively with others is a central element of success in adult life in both work and personal contexts," she told the Atlantic.
Kiessling's viewpoint aligns with Magolda's and he acknowledged the major downfall to living alone in college.
"I don't think there's any doubt that private rooms have changed and still are changing social aspects of college," says Kiessling. "With a private room, it's very easy to find yourself cut off from a social life. If you just go back to your room as soon as class is over, you're never going to meet anyone new or have any experiences beyond those in the classroom."
CLICK HERE to read the Atlantic's full report on the growing trend of college students living in single-person dorms.