Submitted by Greta Anderson on December 3, 2020 - 3:00am

A new survey from American Campus Communities, one of the largest student housing developers and providers in the United States, found positive academic and social outcomes for students living on or near campus in college housing this fall and determined that students also closely followed coronavirus safety guidelines.

The answers of the nearly 42,600 undergraduate and a small number of graduate students who responded to the survey[1], all of them residents of properties owned or managed by ACC, paints a rosy picture of their living conditions and their effects on learning. Whether they were learning fully online or had some in-person classes, due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, all the students surveyed during late October to early November were living with other college students in one of 84 living communities across the United States, rather than at home with family members, said Jason Wills, senior vice president of development for ACC. Students in two housing facilities in Canada were also surveyed, Wills said.

ACC officials have been supportive [2] of colleges opening campus housing to students, regardless of whether classes are being held only online, especially as the company experienced a 7 percent drop in student leasing rates between 2019 and 2020 due to the pandemic. Wills noted some findings in the survey that pointed to the positive academic and social results for students who lived among peers during the fall semester.

He said, for instance, that some of the well-known issues faced by students [3] living at home and learning online -- internet connectivity problems, negative

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