Fairfield University guarantees and requires four years of on-campus housing; Fairfield University'southward 2021-2022 student handbook states that "Fairfield Academy is a residential campus with housing guaranteed to full-time matriculated undergraduates for iv years." Occasionally, all the same, students will be given the option to surrender their 4th year of housing to become live off campus somewhere else, most usually the expanse of Fairfield Beach.

Recently, students have been putting themselves under an immense amount of pressure level to sign leases for beach houses, co-ordinate to Speaker of the Fairfield University Educatee Association Senate John Stalzer. According to Stalzer, students are signing leases as before long as they possibly tin can in their first or 2d years of college.

This tin can create a less-than-desirable living situation for students who grow apart from the group they signed a lease with.

"I think a lot of people sign [leases] in their sophomore twelvemonth, simply that's totally unnecessary and creates a bad situation," Stalzer stated.

Sophomore Ashley McKenna, who signed her beach lease going into this academic year, echoed Stalzer'southward statements.

"It's crazy how early people sign leases and have to find a beach house," McKenna said. "It honestly causes more problems and stress for everyone in deciding who you're going to live with and if you lot'll even so be friends with them by and then, simply people panic one time they hear others already got a house and get a group together as fast every bit they can and sign the first best thing they detect."

An additional problem that is caused by signing a contract for a house too early could exist that Fairfield Academy does non release a educatee from campus just considering they may have already committed to a charter. This not only causes bug for the landlord just too the group of students who accept committed to a housing contract off-campus.

If a group of students would similar to live down by the beach (or anywhere off campus for that matter), they first demand to get released from the University.

This happens at the end of the fall semester of inferior year. Stalzer stated that he thinks "effectually 600 [students]" are allowed to live off campus.

Fairfield University takes into consideration a few factors when determining how many students to release.

Mainly, they consider how many legal beds they tin can fill down at the embankment expanse, which technically starts past the sign indicating you are in the Fairfield Embankment area. They besides take into consideration how many beds they can fill on campus. These numbers will help make up one's mind the number of how many seniors volition be able to move off campus.

The beach is a highly pop place to alive for students, as information technology is somewhat of a tradition to do and so.

"If you're a sophomore or if yous're in the spring semester of your freshman year, students are already starting to think about the beach because, in all honesty, that'due south a large reason why some people might choose to come to Fairfield," Stalzer said.

So, this begs the question: if information technology is such a tradition, why are students looking to sign a lease on a embankment house before into their careers at Fairfield? Why not wait to confirm a spot?

The answer to Stalzer is simple. "You're starting to await in your freshman year, or your sophomore year, and a landlord says, 'well, yous'd better sign presently, y'all'd better sign this week or I'll just take somebody else sign information technology.'"

The pressure of landlords tin can exist very much present when looking for such a residency for senior year. Aside from this, Stalzer acknowledges that students may start panicking earlier on if they call up that there is a finite number of houses available on the market place.

"The supply is going to go down," Stalzer acknowledges,  "and even yous might not become, you lot know, a huge range of houses to choose from, simply there'due south e'er going to be houses."

McKenna explained that the attraction of living at the embankment contributes to the excitement and stress surrounding finding a lease to sign.

"Living on the beach is i of the biggest draws about Fairfield, and so I call back that'due south why people endeavour to sign so early on and so they brand sure they are set for their senior year," McKenna said.

Some students have go flustered by this process.

"Finding a beach house was honestly pretty cluttered," Carolyn McDermott '24 stated. "A few of my friends and I who were interested in living on the embankment started the process this past October, which in comparing to near is pretty late."

For students who either practise not want to live off campus to begin with or who do not go released from campus, there still exists a broad variety of options for senior year housing.

The newly-completed Barnyard Estate south townhouses on campus are a great choice, offer single rooms to all students who live in the unit. Another perk to these townhouses are laundry options within each unit of measurement instead of a communal expanse.

Another senior-housing option is 47 Mahan Road, which offers apartments with 4 unmarried rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a mutual living space.

Students interested in learning more about housing options, on campus or off can notice more than information on the Office of Residence Life website.