In April 2018, the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder Graduate School partnered with Institutional Research to send a housing survey to 4874 graduate students via an online survey platform. At the close of the survey, 1676 students had responded, yielding a response rate of over 34%. Not every respondent answered every question. Results of the survey are given below.
Survey Results
What is your current status regarding housing?
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Actively searching for options for different housing | 19.96 | 321 |
| Satisfied with current housing but looking for new options | 28.67 | 461 |
| Satisfied with current housing and not looking for new options | 51.37 | 826 |
| Total | 100 | 1608 |
Where do you currently live?
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| On campus | 12.06 | 194 |
| Off campus | 87.94 | 1414 |
| Total | 100 | 1608 |
How far do you live from campus?
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Less than 5 miles | 63.93 | 902 |
| 5 to 10 miles | 11.34 | 160 |
| 11 to 15 miles | 8.79 | 124 |
| More than 15 miles | 15.95 | 225 |
| Total | 100 | 1411 |
How much do you spend per month on rent?
The estimated average monthly housing cost for students who report living off-campus is $970. Monthly rents reported by respondents ranged between $100 and $3200. This includes students who report living alone as well as students with up to 3 roommates who share expenses. Students who report living on campus estimate their housing costs to be about $860 dollars a month.
Compared to your expectations, how easy was it to find your current housing?
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Much easier than expected | 7.57 | 119 |
| Somewhat easier than expected | 12.09 | 190 |
| ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä as easy/difficult as I expected | 38.10 | 599 |
| Somewhat more difficult than I expected | 25.19 | 396 |
| Much more difficult than I expected | 17.05 | 268 |
| Total | 100 | 1572 |
Have you used resources available to graduate students through ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä to find housing?
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Yes | 36.95 | 583 |
| No | 33.59 | 530 |
| I was not aware there were ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä resources for graduate students to find housing | 29.47 | 465 |
| Total | 100 | 1578 |
What resources available to ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä did you use or look into?
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Off-Campus student services | 12.53 | 177 |
| Ralphie's list | 30.64 | 433 |
| Bear Creek Apartments | 8.63 | 122 |
| Housing Helpers | 9.34 | 132 |
| Boulder Craigslist | 21.87 | 309 |
| Boulder Property Management | 10.54 | 149 |
| Other | 6.44 | 91 |
| Total | 100 | 1413 |
Which of the following resources were helpful to you? (Select all that apply.)
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Off-Campus student services | 9.39 | 69 |
| Ralphie's list | 29.93 | 220 |
| Bear Creek Apartments | 2.18 | 16 |
| Housing Helpers | 5.99 | 44 |
| Boulder Craigslist | 24.49 | 180 |
| Boulder Property Management | 5.58 | 41 |
| None of these resources were helpful | 22.45 | 165 |
| Total | 100 | 735 |
How many people factor into your need for housing?
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Just myself | 41.9 | 660 |
| Myself and one other person | 43.05 | 678 |
| Three or more people | 15.05 | 237 |
| Total | 100 | 1575 |
Please rate the importance of the following factors when selecting housing.
(Displayed in percentages. Percentages above 25% are bold to show trends.)
| Question | Extremely important | Very important | Moderately important | Slightly important | Not at all important |
|---|
| Distance from campus | 35.73 | 34.34 | 22.74 | 4.88 | 2.31 |
| Cost | 65.66 | 27.24 | 6.32 | 0.53 | 0.26 |
| Type of housing (house/apt, # of bedrooms) | 20.38 | 34.91 | 28.8 | 11.64 | 4.27 |
| Housing/community amenities | 8.09 | 20.99 | 33.95 | 25.39 | 11.58 |
| Safety | 30.20 | 33.82 | 21.32 | 10.66 | 4.01 |
| Quality of housing | 19.82 | 41.01 | 31.67 | 6.12 | 1.38 |
| Access to transportation | 28.72 | 31.42 | 24.44 | 9.88 | 5.53 |
| Proximity to other interests such as entertainment venues, outdoor spaces, etc. | 9.01 | 19.41 | 33.42 | 27.7 | 10.46 |
| Resources for identifying and matching roommates | 8.05 | 13.07 | 18.09 | 15.91 | 44.88 |
| Being family-friendly | 9.43 | 11.94 | 14.91 | 17.88 | 45.84 |
| Ability to have pet(s) | 24.26 | 10.02 | 12.46 | 12.33 | 40.94 |
(Total number of responses. Responses yielding percentages above 25% are bold to show trends.)
| Question | Extremely important | Very important | Moderately important | Slightly important | Not at all
important | Total |
|---|
| Distance from campus | 542 | 521 | 345 | 74 | 35 | 1517 |
| Cost | 998 | 414 | 96 | 8 | 4 | 1520 |
| Type of housing (house/apt, # of bedrooms) | 310 | 531 | 438 | 177 | 65 | 1521 |
| Housing/community amenities | 123 | 319 | 516 | 386 | 176 | 1520 |
| Safety | 459 | 514 | 324 | 162 | 61 | 1520 |
| Quality of housing | 301 | 623 | 481 | 93 | 21 | 1519 |
| Access to transportation | 436 | 477 | 371 | 150 | 84 | 1518 |
| Proximity to other interests such as entertainment venues, outdoor spaces, etc. | 137 | 295 | 508 | 421 | 159 | 1520 |
| Resources for identifying and matching roommates | 122 | 198 | 274 | 241 | 680 | 1515 |
| Being family-friendly | 143 | 181 | 226 | 271 | 695 | 1516 |
| Ability to have pet(s) | 368 | 152 | 189 | 187 | 621 | 1517 |
What is your age?
| Under 25 | 27.63 |
| 25-30 | 51.34 |
| Older than 30 | 21.03 |
What additional resources/assistance would you like to see with regard to graduate student housing? (Select all that apply.)
| Answer | Percent | Count |
|---|
| Information about the City of Boulder and Boulder community on the Graduate School website | 37.93 | 690 |
| More options for connections between graduate students regarding housing | 45.85 | 834 |
| Other (please specify in the box below) | 16.22 | 295 |
| Total | 100 | 1819 |
