Approximately 3 million students nationwide live in housing that is owned and operated by colleges and universities. The COVID-19 crisis dramatically disrupted the student housing experience, creating new levels of operating and financial stress within the student housing industry. 

GradGuard and Higher Ed Study are conducting a survey among student housing professionals to better understand industry trends and benchmarks impacting operations. 

The 2020 Student Housing Operations Research Survey objectives include:

- Identify potential challenges, risks, and functional gaps due to the COVID-19. 

- Identify benchmarks and emerging trends impacting student housing operations.

- Deepen the understanding of the common and best practices emerging within student housing operations.

90% of campuses are refunding a percentage back to their residents based on the date of move out, according to a recent ACUHO-I survey of 284 campuses. Of those institutions, 22% are anticipating seeing a revenue reduction of greater than 30%.

In addition to these financial pressures, student housing operations leadership must perform in a complex operating environment that includes risk and property management, relying on student staff to perform essential functions, frequent turnover of staff, and extensive reporting requirements from the Clery Act and Title IX.

The 2020 Student Housing Operations Research Survey will be conducted from May 19 through May 27. It is meant to inform decision making processes for housing operations leaders this year.  

The initial results will be published soon thereafter, and complete results will be released in early June.