The Evolution of the College Dorm

Big Business
American Campus Communities surveys students each year to find out what they like. Since 1996, ACC has developed more than $1.5 billion in properties for university clients, and has acquired in excess of $2 billion in student-housing assets. Some critics argue such grand accommodations distract students from college's real purpose. "The undergraduate university experience should be about getting kids to answer the basic question, 'What is a life worth living?'" argues Jonathan Zimmerman, director of New York University's History of Education Program. "By making all these lovely things for the kids, we're answering that question for them."

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