On Wednesday, we learned that Slippery Rock University will require its freshman and sophomore students to live in the dorms until their junior years.

Dave Wilmes, chief student affairs officer at SRU, said that data shows such living arrangements increase student retention and that students living in dorms are more likely to complete their degrees.

Immersing oneself in college life is essential for anyone entering a four-year institution. In addition to being close to others with your same major, resources, opportunities and academic help are more immediately and readily available. It also makes forming friendships and staying up-to-date on the social calendar as well as networking much easier. All of these activities are vital to ensuring one gets the most out of his or her college experience.

As someone who transferred into a university as a junior and was almost immediately sent home due to the pandemic, it’s hard to find fault in the reasoning behind SRU’s decision. In fact, broadening this stipulation to require full-time students to spend two years in the dorms no matter the level at which they enter the school might be worth considering.

We realize this opens up more discussions, such as age restrictions and exemptions, but for transfer students who are the same age as their traditional classmates, there are many more pros than cons.

Some students — understandably — have anxiety about being asked to live in a small space with a complete stranger. However, colleges tend to have a variety of room configurations to choose from these days, and almost always have a system in place to make sure any potential issues with roommates are noted, dealt with and, if necessary, corrected.

Lockdown taught this generation to be grateful for a multitude of things, and we can add on-campus housing to that list. Is it annoying when you walk into the laundry room in between writing essay assignments only to find all the washing machines full, or when the fire alarm mysteriously blares at 3 o’clock in the morning? Absolutely.

It’s part of the experience. But so are game night, pizza parties and camaraderie. Living in a dorm lets students dip their toes in the pool of adulthood before they finish out their education in an apartment. They figure out how to make the day-to-day decisions that constitute life in a safe place.

And we will say it: The move to put more students in dorm rooms also has a positive financial impact on the school. More students living on campus equates to more dollars in the university’s pocket. A two-year commitment to dorm living and a meal plan is a respectable and not uncommon requirement across the state.

We need the university to be financially sound, and this will help support that.

The Eagle staff wishes all those heading off to college a fun, safe and productive semester.

— CM