A study showed that the average GPA for last semester’s incoming on-campus freshmen was 2.716 compared to incoming freshmen living off-campus with an average GPA of 1.957.

The Housing and Dining Services requested this information from the Information Technology Services.

“What we are looking at here is the cumulative GPAs of students living on-campus versus off-campus,” said Mark Hudson, the director of housing and dining. “That isn’t to say that there are people off-campus that are doing fine and people that are on-campus that are doing terrible because it’s an average, however, it is interesting to note that collectively there is certainly a big spread of those numbers.”

On-campus incoming freshmen are mostly students living in the residence halls but there are also students living in the University Apartments for family housing.

“Our information shows, and when we talk to students, that the reality is if you live in a community of college students you are more apt to study or go to the library or get up and go to class because there are people around you that are expecting you to do that,” Hudson said.

The difference between the average GPA of incoming freshmen living on-campus vs. off-campus is 0.759.

“I think that there is a big gap in incoming freshmen numbers because people who live off-campus tend to be a little more isolated and don’t necessarily have the same connections that are easily available to students living on-campus,” Hudson said.

It is a university policy that incoming students reside in a residence hall unless the student lives at home.

“The challenge is that often times people live at home because it is more affordable so I think that students that live off-campus as freshmen with their parents need to discover strategies of how they can engage on campus and feel more connected to campus,” Hudson said.

Also, on-campus sophomores had an average GPA of 2.879 last semester compared to the off-campus average that was 2.744.

“The academic advantage to be on wcampus goes to that sophomore year as well because the spread is not as dramatic but yet there is still a difference and someone pointed out to me that the difference in GPA was going to graduate school or not going to (graduate) school because you have to have at least a 2.75 (GPA) to go to grad school,” Hudson said.

The Housing and Dining Services plans to expand this study by obtaining additional information with the on-campus GPAs.

“We are requesting a breakdown of the incoming freshmen GPAs by building so we can try and discern what is one building doing versus another building that enhances academic success,” Hudson said.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-7942 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.