A recent report from the ratings agency Moody’s indicates that affordable housing for graduate students is becoming both more important and difficult for universities to build. Ben Unglesbee of Higher Ed Dive reports that graduate students are constrained in their housing options due to their limited incomes and—compared to their undergraduate counterparts—higher existing student debt burdens and lower parental financial supports. At the same time, much of the existing on-campus graduate housing is aging, while many of the new residences that are being constructed are focused on undergraduate students. The Moody’s report indicates that some universities are beginning to look at housing for graduate students’ needs, “given the increasingly critical roles these students play within an institution’s academic infrastructure.”
