Due to limited on-campus housing, Butler University should not require third-year students to live on campus.
With the long list of underclassmen facing housing perils, the school could save itself a lot of trouble by allowing juniors to live off campus.
This would free up rooms in Apartment Village, where sophomores could be allowed to live.
Earlier this semester, Butler University sent out emails encouraging rising seniors to live in AV.
With the current logjam of students trying to find housing for next year, this is the wrong thing for Butler to do.
If anything, the school should be encouraging students to live off campus to free up necessary room.
If the school or a scholarship is not paying for a senior’s housing, then he or she should not live on campus. Allowing seniors to live on campus will prevent the fulfillment of housing requirements, which requires students to live on campus for three years.
The housing crisis on campus is so bad sophomores are being forced to live in Ross and Schwitzer Halls again.
A handful of rising sophomores might not mind living in freshman dorms, but many are ready to move on to better housing options.
The housing situation on campus has reached the point where underclassmen are already making housing plans for their senior years.
Social groups change, and no one can know for certain who they will want to live with two or three years down the road.
If a scenario came up where  students would choose to study abroad or choose to live in a residence hall for financial reasons, he or she would have problems getting out of the lease.
If the school did decide to allow juniors to live off campus, it would have to plan this carefully.
The influx of commuters would  outnumber the  limited parking on campus. Plans would need to be made to add more parking. Despite this problem, trying to find a ride to campus is not as big of a problem as finding somewhere to live.
Off-campus housing is not the only issue students are facing. Housing priority is based upon credit hours.
Athletes traditionally take fewer hours because of time constraints. Many athletes have scholarships, which cover their housing.
If these athletes who have a financial reason to stay on campus cannot live where they want, then they would be at a serious disadvantage.
To solve the housing  crisis now and provide room for expansion in the future, Butler should allow third-year students to live off campus.