In recent years, with the expansion of colleges and universities to recruit master's students, the shortage of accommodation resources has become more and more prominent. Peking University, Nanjing University, Fudan University and many other universities have made it clear in the 2024 master's enrollment brochure that they will not provide accommodation for some graduate students. If accommodation is not arranged, is the official announcement of the university reasonable?This issue has attracted widespread attention.
Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Education Sciences, said that from an international point of view, universities in most countries do not provide accommodation for master's students, and even universities in some countries do not provide accommodation for undergraduates.
From the perspective of the function of the university itself, it is normal for the university not to provide accommodation for students at the postgraduate level. Chu Zhaohui believes that providing accommodation is an auxiliary function of universities, and under the planning system in the past, colleges and universities provided accommodation for more effective management, and from the perspective of long-term development of universities, not providing accommodation should be a norm.
First of all, with the expansion of universities to recruit master's students, accommodation resources have become seriously strained. A large number of graduate students enter colleges and universities, especially in some popular disciplines, and the demand for accommodation is very strong. However, most colleges and universities have limited accommodation and cannot meet the needs of all students. Therefore, colleges and universities choose not to provide accommodation, which can alleviate the tension of accommodation resources and ensure the rational use of resources.
Secondly, the primary function of the school is education and research, not the provision of accommodation. Schools should focus on providing a high-quality education and academic research environment, rather than being responsible for student accommodation. Although dormitories are an important part of student life, from a long-term perspective, schools should devote more resources and energy to the field of education and research, improving the quality of teaching and academics.
In addition, dormitory management is also a tedious job that requires a lot of manpower and material resources. The absence of accommodation reduces the administrative burden on the school and allows the school to focus more on its core mission. In this way, the school can hand over the dormitory resources to a professional real estate agency for management, provide better accommodation conditions and services, and increase student satisfaction and quality of life.
Of course, for those students who do need accommodation, the school can provide a solution. For example, cooperate in the construction of rentals near schools**, or cooperate with rental platforms to provide corresponding preferential policies. In this way, it can not only meet the accommodation needs of students, but also entrust the accommodation work to professional institutions, so as to achieve the rational allocation and efficient use of resources.
To sum up, it is normal for colleges and universities not to provide dormitories. Internationally, it is a common practice that universities in most countries do not provide accommodation for master's students. For colleges and universities, dormitories are not their core function, and schools should devote more energy and resources to education and research to improve the quality of teaching and academic standards. At the same time, there are other ways in which the school can meet the needs of students who do need accommodation. This can not only alleviate the shortage of accommodation resources, but also improve the quality of life and Xi environment of students, and realize the rational allocation and efficient use of resources.