Universities encouraged to offer single dorm rooms to meet student demand

Universities are being encouraged to shift their dormitory layouts to offer individual rooms, reflecting students' preference for personal space. This factor is set to become part of university evaluations and funding considerations.

Ryu Chul-whan, chairperson of the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission, looks around Ewha Womans University's E-House dorm with the university's president, Kim Eun-mee. The commission recommended universities change dorms to have individual rooms, with the E-House dorm used as an example. [YONHAP]

Universities are being encouraged to shift their dormitory layouts to offer individual rooms, reflecting students' preference for personal space. This factor is set to become part of university evaluations and funding considerations.

The Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission announced Monday that it has requested the Ministry of Education to recommend universities transition to individual dorm rooms with shared communal spaces, rather than multiple roommates per room.

Renovation of existing university dorms was also part of the commission’s request. According to the commission, 43 percent of dormitories at Korean universities were built at least 20 years ago.

This decision responds to the unpopularity of double, triple and quadruple rooms, which has driven many students to pricier studio apartments. The commission reported that in 2022, triple dorm rooms at greater Seoul universities had a vacancy rate of 17 percent, while quadruple rooms had a rate of 22 percent.

While universities will not be required to convert all dorms to individual rooms, the percentage of individual rooms and the quality of dorm renovations will become criteria in the Korea Council of University Education’s evaluations. Currently, only the dorm-to-student ratio is considered.

Programs like the Korea Advancing Schools Foundation's Happy Dormitory initiative, which provides government funding for private university dorm construction, and the Build-Transfer-Lease program for national universities will consider the number of individual rooms planned in the new dorms when selecting universities that will be part of the program.

To observe the impact of this layout, Civil Rights Commission Chairperson, Ryu Chul-whan, visited Ewha Womans University's E-House dorm. Ewha, the first university in Korea to build dorms offering individual rooms within shared units, reports high satisfaction among students. E-House dorm units include a shared living room and kitchen with a mix of individual, double and triple rooms.

"Having dormitory units with individual rooms and shared living spaces will increase satisfaction among the MZ generation," said Ryu. "The shared spaces will still foster cooperation, communication and a sense of community, which we hope will shape dorm culture at more universities."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]