A Study Of Off-Campus Rental Among College Students

Market economy has brought along significant changes to our lives, and has exerted impact on how college students value. Off-campus rental has been prevalent among college students, with students becoming more open-minded. However, it generates an increasing amount of security issues, such as robbery and intentional injury targeted at student tenants, which, brings challenges to college management. The Higher Education Department initiated the Prohibition against Student off-campus Rental, for the sake of college management and student security. However, the ban failed to prevent students from renting outside of campus. The reason why the order was difficult to implement is that there is legitimate needs for students who preferring off-campus rental. There is a huge gap between policy and the reality.The objective of this paper is to document how student rent, and to investigate the reason why students prefer off-campus rental. I also analyze the downside and potential risks of off-campus rental. The research participants of this study consists of three groups of people:student tenants who opt-in off-campus rental at S College (the new campus), student tenants who opt-in on-campus rental, and staff of on-campus rental management department. Methodologically, I use questionnaire survey and in-depth interview to collect data. This paper argues that one of the main causes of off-campus rental is due to less satisfactory on-campus rental facilities and management loophole. It is reasonable that students prefer off-campus rental.I conclude that the prohibition is no solution to off-campus rental, therefore I suggest that it is practical to twist the philosophy of policy from prohibition to facilitate. This paper generates two policy suggestions:first of all, to improve off-campus rental management with strategies such as moderately relaxing off-campus rental policies, enhancing the management of student tenants, and creating a joint management system with off-campus properties or facilities; secondly, to improve on-campus rental system in order to encourage students to rent on-campus, with strategies including improving dormitory facilities, providing better service, and enhancing management system.