Bowdoin’s Housing Imbalance

Study-abroad applications aren’t necessarily down at Bowdoin College in Maine, but what college officials are calling an “imbalance” in abroad applications is causing a housing crunch for next fall on campus.

The Bowdoin Orient reported Friday that 55 more students at the elite college will be abroad in Spring 2010 than will be this coming fall. And, as a small college, that means many student housing units will be getting little more crowded.

The college’s Off-Campus Study Office had earlier considered requiring that some Spring 2010 travelers move their time abroad up by a semester, but officials ultimately decided to leave things as they are.

“We have picked up three volunteers who should be able to make that switch,” Director of Off-Campus Study Stephen Hall told the Orient. “Apart from that we will just plan to deal with the projected imbalance...as well as we can.”