Michigan State University will require undergraduates live on campus for two years

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Undergraduates at Michigan State University will be required to live on campus a second year as part of efforts to help students toward graduating.

A 2-year living requirement waived since the 1980s will be reinstated next fall, according to the school.

An analysis by Michigan State’s Office of Institutional Research shows undergraduates who live on the East Lansing campus their first two years have graduation rates about 2.5 percentage points higher than those who live on campus only during their first year.

The difference is nearly 10 percentage points for some underserved student groups, the school said.

“Reinstating the second-year live-on requirement will help us better equip our students with the tools they need, while in a supportive and safe environment, to help them succeed,” Vennie Gore, senior vice president for Auxiliary Enterprises at Michigan State, said in a release.

Incoming students currently are required to spend their first academic year, which is made up of their first two semesters, on campus. Students living in residence halls now and the current 2020 incoming class will be exempt from the change.

Students who transfer to Michigan State will be required to live on campus unless they meet the exception criteria.