The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search.
For many graduates, college conjures memories of meeting friends, bonding with roommates and late-night studying in campus dorms. But whether a student has these on-campus living experiences depends largely on where they pursue their degree.
Among the 276 ranked National Universities that reported these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, an average of 39 percent of students lived on campus in fall 2015. But the average among the 11 schools with the most students in campus housing was much higher : 90 percent.
[Discover the benefits and drawbacks of living at home during college.]
Nine of the 11 colleges on the list rank in the top 15 National Universities in U.S. News’ 2017 Best Colleges rankings. Among them, five are Ivy League schools: Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College and Yale University.
At Harvard University — topping the list with 99 percent of undergrads living on campus — residence life is a key part of the student experience, though a few commuters and visiting undergrads don’t live on campus, according to the school’s online Student Handbook. Housing is guaranteed to students all four years.
Princeton University, second on the list, similarly guarantees all undergrads housing. While first-year students and sophomores must live in one of the university’s six residential colleges, juniors and seniors can live off campus, though the school warns that nearby options are in short supply and often have high rent.
[Explore how to furnish a college dorm on a budget.]
At the other end of the spectrum are two California public universities: California State University–Fullerton, where 2 percent of undergrads live on campus, and California State University–Fresno with 5 percent. The latter had 21,482 undergrads enrolled in fall 2015, but has just one on-campus housing option — University Courtyard, which hold s up to 1,100 students.
Below are the 11 National Universities that had the highest percentage of undergraduates living on campus during fall 2015. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| National University (state) | Percent of undergrads living on campus | U.S. News rank |
| Harvard University (MA) | 99 | 2 |
| Princeton University (NJ) | 96 | 1 |
| Columbia University (NY) | 94 | 5 (tie) |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 94 | 7 |
| Stanford University (CA) | 93 | 5 (tie) |
| Vanderbilt University (TN) | 92 | 15 (tie) |
| Dartmouth College (NH) | 87 | 11 |
| California Institute of Technology | 86 | 12 (tie) |
| Boston College | 84 | 31 |
| Clarkson University (NY) | 84 | 129 (tie) |
| Yale University (CT) | 84 | 3 (tie) |
Don’t see your school on this list? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find data on housing, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The housing data above are correct as of Nov. 15, 2016.
More from U.S. News
4 Student Loan Mistakes To Avoid When Living Off Campus
4 Surprises for International Students About On-Campus Housing
5 Reasons to Rent Off-Campus in College
11 National Universities Where the Most Students Live on Campus originally appeared on usnews.com
