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PROVO — Brigham Young University announced Thursday that single students will no longer be required to live in on-campus or off-campus contracted housing after their first two semesters.
"These decisions were made in an effort to better serve our students and provide them with more options," Student Life Vice President Julie Franklin said in a prepared statement.
"We have been hearing from and listening to our students' concerns with BYU's two-mile housing radius. Beginning in fall 2022, students who have completed their first two semesters at BYU will enjoy greater flexibility when choosing where to live," she said.
Graduate students and married students were not previously required to live in campus or off-campus contracted housing, BYU officials noted.
Along with the changes, BYU off-campus contracted housing will now only be available to BYU students.
University leaders pointed to the "challenges third-party, off-campus landlords face when requiring non-BYU students to abide by" the school's honor code and BYU's student housing policies as a factor in the decision.
Franklin emphasized that the school will continue to require students in their first two semesters to live in BYU housing or off-campus contracted housing.
"Research repeatedly shows that students who initially have this close association with their fellow students have a better and more successful college experience," she said in the statement.
Single undergraduate students can also live in BYU on-campus or off-campus housing after their two semesters if they choose, and they will still be required to abide by honor code and student housing policies there, leaders said.
The changes only apply to Brigham Young University, and not BYU-Hawaii, BYU-Idaho or Ensign College.
More information is available at och.byu.edu/.
