Ubong (2007) classified students’ hostel accommodation into two major groups which are:
· On-campus students’ hostel accommodation
· Off-campus students’ hostel accommodation
On-campus students’ hostel accommodation
On-campus students’ hostel accommodation is a hostel accommodation where students live right inside the campus. The on-campus students’ accommodation apart from providing students with shelter, provides them with a kitchen, sanitary conveniences, a common room for entertainment and also give students opportunities to mix up with other students who are from different background culture.
Ubong (2007) further classified on-campus students hostel accommodation as follows:
- Like-minded hostel accommodation
- All-male/all-female hostel accommodation
- Co-ed dorms
- Freshmen dorm living
- Like-minded hostel accommodation: Like-minded hostel accommodation just as the name indicates is hostel accommodation set aside from a particular group of persons who are studying a particular course or for students a particular passion. This in most case is an accommodation for students pursuing a degree in a specialized course. The like-minded hostel accommodation gives the opportunity for students to have easy access to each other and solve problems together thereby leading to improved academic achievement.
- All-male/all-female students’ hostel accommodation: All-male or all-female students’ hostel accommodations are accommodations provided for students of the same sex on campuses, especially colleges which have some level of religious affiliations. This type of students’ hostel accommodation is geared toward ameliorating fears associated with students of both sexes living together in a particular hostel. In all-male or all-female students’ hostel accommodation, there is an allotted time visitors of the opposite sex especially in all-female students hostel accommodation.
- Co-ed dorms: Co-ed dorms although almost phasing out as a type of students’ hostel accommodation is a students’ hostel accommodation where students of both sexes live in a given hostel accommodation. This can be in the form of students leaving at different floors on the same building or students of both sexes living in different rooms in the same floor. Proponents of co-ed dorms argue that co-ed dorms gives students opportunities to mingle with the opposite sex which helps them to better relate with their opposite sex counterpart in order to help them later in life during date or marriage.
- Freshmen dorm living: Freshmen dorm living is a student hostel accommodation set aside for students in their first year in the college or university. The major purpose of freshmen dorm living is to provide first year students to mingle with their fellow first year students and gradually try to mix up with other students which had been in the institution before them. This allows them to choose cautiously those to associate with and those to avoid.
Off-campus students’ hostel accommodations
Off-campus students’ hostel accommodation is a hostel accommodated situated away from the campus. However, they are usually located not very far away from the institution. They are operated by the institution or private owners. According to Ejionueme (2010) off-campus students’ hostel accommodation, especially those operated by private individuals usually do not segregate students in term of sex or course of study in the institution. Many students prefer to book student apartments in Adelaide for a more private and flexible living experience compared to traditional hostels.
