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Balancing Affordability, Aging Facilities, Enrollment Shifts, and Evolving Student Expectations Survey of Attendees at the ACUHO-I Campus Home. LIVE! 2026 Conference Housing leaders today are navigating a complex balancing act—delivering affordable, high-quality residential communities while adapting to aging facilities, shifting enrollment patterns, and changing student expectations. Based on conversations and survey responses from attendees at the 2026 ACUHO-I Campus Home. LIVE! Conference, this white paper highlights the trends shaping the future of campus housing and the opportunities they present for colleges and universities. July 2026 Ken Higa, AIA, IIDA, NOMA Principal / Higher Education Practice Leader KenHiga@beckgroup.com
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Survey of Attendees at ACUHO-I 2026 | June 21-24, 2026
Introduction Student housing has always reflected the changing needs of higher education. Today, however, those changes are occurring faster than ever. At the 2026 ACUHO-I Campus Home. LIVE! Conference in Orlando, Florida, The Beck Group invited conference attendees to answer one simple question: “What are the top challenges you see in student housing today?” Through a live poll and conversations at our exhibit booth, housing professionals from flagship universities, regional institutions, and private colleges shared candid insights into the opportunities and challenges shaping student housing today. Unlike previous years, where conversations centered on student well-being and communication, this year’s responses focused on a broader challenge: How do colleges and universities deliver the housing students want while remaining financially sustainable? The results reveal that today’s housing leaders are balancing competing priorities: • Affordability versus quality • Privacy versus community • Renovation versus replacement • Enrollment uncertainty versus long-term investment The conversation is no longer simply about adding beds. It is about maximizing the value of every housing investment while supporting student success. ACUHO-I’s 2026 conference theme emphasized innovation and the future of campus housing, making these conversations particularly timely.
This year’s responses focused on a broader challenge: How do colleges and universities deliver the housing students want while remaining financially sustainable?
What are the top challenges you see in student housing today? Key themes from Beck’s live polling and conversations at the ACUHO-I Campus Home.LIVE 2026 Conference in Orlando, Florida 1
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Survey of Attendees at ACUHO-I 2026 | June 21-24, 2026
Affordability Has Become the New Design Challenge The most common response from attendees was affordability. Interestingly, participants described affordability from two different perspectives. First, institutions are facing unprecedented costs to renovate aging residence halls or construct new housing. Escalating construction costs, deferred maintenance, and financing challenges are forcing difficult decisions about where limited capital should be invested. Second, students and families are questioning the value of campus housing as overall college costs continue to rise. While students increasingly desire private bedrooms, upgraded amenities, and apartment-style living, many cannot absorb the additional cost associated with these features. One housing professional summarized the dilemma: “Affordability on both sides—the cost to build new housing and the cost to the students. Finding that balance is our biggest challenge.” The question is no longer simply “How do we build better residence halls?” Instead, institutions are asking: “How do we provide the greatest value for every dollar invested?”
Quotes from our conference conversations
“Affordability on both sides—the cost to build new housing and the cost to the students. Finding that balance is our biggest challenge.”
Aging Buildings Are Reaching a Decision Point The second strongest theme involved aging residence halls and deferred maintenance. Attendees repeatedly mentioned: • aging facilities
• accessibility
• deferred maintenance
• maintenance backlogs
• aging infrastructure • water intrusion Many residence halls built during the enrollment expansion of the 1950s through the 1970s are now well beyond their original design life. What were once cosmetic issues have become operational challenges affecting student satisfaction, maintenance costs, and recruitment. Industry research reinforces this concern. Gordian’s 2026 State of Facilities in Higher Education reported that deferred capital renewal needs continue to grow, while many institutions fund only a portion of the investment required to prevent maintenance backlogs from worsening. This leaves many campuses making difficult choices between renovating existing assets and investing in new construction.
“We are facing challenges with enrollment dropping and are looking at ways to convert double rooms into singles in order to meet the privacy requests.” “Students are no longer looking for a one size fits all approach. We must tailor to meet the student where they are to the best of our ability”
At the 2026 SEAHO Conference in Winston-Salem,NC our live survey revealed the communication gap in today’s student housing communities. Scan the QR code to read our whitepaper on our findings.
The challenge extends beyond replacing mechanical systems or repairing roofs. 2
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Aging Buildings continued... Today’s students expect: • improved accessibility • better technology • greater privacy • more collaborative spaces • healthier buildings As a result, institutions are increasingly evaluating whether renovation alone is sufficient—or whether complete transformation is necessary.
Survey of Attendees at ACUHO-I 2026 | June 21-24, 2026
Housing leaders also noted uncertainty surrounding international student enrollment, which has historically been an important source of residential demand at many institutions. Recent national enrollment reports indicate declines in graduate international enrollment at public fouryear institutions, adding another layer of complexity to longterm housing planning. Rather than one national housing strategy, colleges increasingly face very different questions: • How do we build more beds? • How do we keep our existing beds full?
Enrollment Is Creating Two Very Different Housing Markets
Why Upperclassmen Student Housing Is Emerging as a Strategic Priority
Perhaps the most interesting conversations at ACUHO-I were not reflected directly in the survey responses.
One of the more unexpected findings from the survey was the number of responses referencing:
Many housing professionals described a growing divide between institutions.
• upperclassmen housing
Large flagship universities continue experiencing strong demand for on-campus housing, with many maintaining or growing enrollment. These campuses remain focused on increasing bed capacity, improving the student experience, and expanding housing options.
• additional capacity
Meanwhile, many regional universities and smaller private institutions are facing a different reality. The long-anticipated demographic cliff—driven by declining birth rates following the 2008 recession—is reducing the number of traditional college-age students in many parts of the country. While the effects vary by institution and region, demographic projections suggest enrollment pressures will be felt most acutely by smaller and tuition-dependent colleges.
• apartment-style housing • student choice This trend reflects changing student expectations. Many students no longer view moving off campus as the default next step after their first year. Instead, they value the convenience, safety, technology, programming, and sense of community offered by campus housing. For institutions experiencing enrollment pressure, retaining upperclassmen students in campus housing also helps stabilize occupancy while strengthening student engagement. Rather than viewing housing as a first-year experience, many universities are beginning to think of housing as a four-year strategy supporting recruitment, retention, and graduation.
The Demographic Cliff by the Numbers •
U.S. high school graduates peak in 2025.
•
13% national decline projected by 2041.
•
38 states are expected to produce fewer high school graduates than today.
•
Southern states are projected to fare better than the Northeast and Midwest, creating increasingly uneven enrollment pressures across higher education.
Source: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates, 11th Edition, 2024.
The Privacy Paradox Perhaps no issue illustrates changing student expectations more than privacy. Students increasingly request: • single bedrooms • apartment-style living • fewer roommates • greater personal space Yet at the same time, colleges continue reporting concerns about loneliness, isolation, and student engagement. This creates what might be called The Privacy Paradox. 3
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Survey of Attendees at ACUHO-I 2026 | June 21-24, 2026
Privacy Paradox continued...
CONCLUSION
Students want more privacy than ever before. They also need more opportunities to connect with one another.
The conversations at ACUHO-I 2026 suggest that student housing has entered a new era. The challenge is no longer simply building more residence halls - it is delivering greater value.
The challenge for designers is no longer choosing between privacy and community. It is creating buildings that successfully support both. Designing for Choice Instead of Uniformity Another attendee offered perhaps the best summary of today’s student expectations. “Students are no longer looking for a one-size-fits-all approach. We must tailor to meet the student where they are to the best of our ability.”
Successful institutions will balance affordability with quality, renovate aging assets while planning for the future, create environments that support both privacy and community, and offer housing choices that evolve with students throughout their college experience. Ultimately, the future of student housing is not defined by the number of beds on campus. It will be defined by how effectively those environments contribute to student success, institutional resilience, and long-term value.
This shift has significant implications for campus planning. Rather than creating one residence hall type for every student, institutions increasingly benefit from a diversified housing portfolio that includes: • traditional first-year communities • suite-style housing • apartment communities • living-learning communities • graduate housing • specialized residential experiences Flexibility is becoming just as important as density. Amenities Continue to Evolve Attendees also discussed the rapidly changing nature of student amenities. Among those mentioned were: • gaming rooms • virtual gaming spaces • phone booths • community kitchens • wellness rooms • collaborative study areas The challenge is not identifying today’s most popular amenity.
About The Beck Team The Beck Group is a leader in higher education planning, design, and construction. We partner with colleges and universities to deliver student-centered environments that enhance learning, promote well-being, and support institutional mission. We’re grateful to the many housing professionals who shared their perspectives at ACUHO-I 2026. We look forward to continuing the conversation—and helping to shape the next generation of campus housing. For more information or to explore how we can support your campus housing goals, contact kenhiga@beckgroup.com or visit beckgroup.com.
The challenge is designing buildings that remain adaptable as student preferences continue to evolve. Instead of creating highly specialized spaces, future residence halls should emphasize flexible environments that can easily change over time. 4