Global Journal of Management and Business Research, B: Economics and Commerce, Volume 22 Issue 4

The Effects of Students' Housing on Academic Performance at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria Abiodun Moses Ogunyemi Abstract- Student housing plays an important role in achieving of high-quality education. Significant evidence of the inadequacy of these important facilities among public universities in Nigeria have been provided. It was further noted that there is a lack of adequate information within the private institutions in the country with regards to this situation. Based on this context, this study was carried out to evaluate the housing situation of students at the University of Ibadan, by evaluating the factors influencing the choice of residence of students and their effect on their academic performance. However, the study adopted a survey approach, with 200 students sampled through a structured questionnaire. Data gathered were analyzed using frequency, mean item score, and ANOVA test. Results revealed that although gender has no relationship with students’ choice of residence but age and academic level does. This implies that the older the students get and the higher they go on the academic ladder, the greater the propensity to stay off- campus. The major factors influencing students’ choice of residence are: accommodation fee, quality of the environment, need for privacy, influence of friends/desire to be close to friends, and number of students within the building. As regards students Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) as a measure of their performance, the residence of students does not have any statistical relationship with their academic grades. This implies that the student’s academic performance is not influenced by their place of residence. The study also revealed that there is a level of dissatisfaction with the poor state and condition of available student housing facilities, the inadequacy of the existing facilities which has created high occupancy ratio has invariable led to over utilization of the available resources putting the facilities in deplorable conditions. From the study findings, it is recommended that the university administrators and all those involved in students’ accommodation endeavor to understand students’ accommodation needs and plan strategically to meet them. It is hoped that the findings of the study will enable the university administrators to come up with plans and objectives that best serve the interests of the students’ accommodation for both on-campus and off- campus. I. I ntroduction he importance of housing covers the entire aspects of human life. Primarily, it involves physical protection from hazards which ordinarily may be regarded as shelter sourced from many of the basic biological and social processes necessary to sustain Author: Faculty of Economics, University of Ibadan. e-mail: abmoses115@gmail.com life, which permits healthy growth and development of the mind. In all, housing as a unit of the human environment has a profound impact on the community's health, social behavior, satisfaction and general welfare. It reflects the cultural, social and economic values of a society as it is the best physical and historical evidence of civilization in a country (Aluko, 2009). Students’ housing has been identified as one of the essential components of tertiary institutions. The availability of housing or accommodation for students enables tertiary institutions to attract large number of students of different nationalities and backgrounds to pursue higher education (Kolawole & Boluwatife, 2016). Onclin, (2014) noted that “tertiary institutions’ involvement in housing or accommodation was not just useful for attracting students; it would also influence student success, student retention rates, and student satisfaction”. Nimako & Bondinuba, (2013) also identified accommodation as an important factor that enhances tertiary students’ living and learning and suggested that adequate accommodation facilities be provided to students so that they could make the most of their educational opportunity. It is the responsibility of tertiary institutions to provide decent housing facilities for students who successfully gain admission to pursue different study programs. For government institutions, accommodation facilities are usually provided by the government. However, as result of high demand for tertiary education in recent times, governments of many countries are not able to adequately provide accommodation for students of tertiary institutions (Sharma, 2012). Consequently, other educational stakeholders have had to support government efforts, either in partnership with government or by solely providing private housing or accommodation facilities for tertiary students on or off- campus (Centre for Global Education, 2002 Department for Education and Skills, 2003). University of Ibadan has twelve halls of residence which provide accommodation for its students. These are the Independence hall, Ransome kuti hall (male block), Queen India (female block), Mellanby hall, Nnamdi Azikiwe hall, Obafemi Awolowo hall, Queen Elizabeth || hall, Sultan Bello hall, Tafawa Balewa hall, Lord Tedder Hall, New postgraduate hall, Alexander Brown Hall. The total students’ population of T 53 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue IV Version I Year 2022 ( ) B © 2022 Global Journals