Recently, an article was published by the Purdue Exponent exposing the "auxiliary housing" on campus. In this article, the Exponent exposed the cramped and crowded living situation that these auxiliary dorms give students. The auxiliary dorms are constructed in the basements and storage rooms of campus buildings, and are set up in the following manner: beds placed at intervals throughout the room, separated from each other with dorm furniture, with about ten students living in each auxiliary dorm. Students and parents alike have expressed outrage over this living situation, comparing it to a prison or a halfway house. Students have stated that they feel uncomfortable due to the close quarters and that they are unable to get enough sleep due to some students staying up late (as some college students tend to do) and due to other students waking up extremely early.

Upon further investigation it was revealed that the auxiliary dorms were "constructed" due to overpopulation at Purdue. After this information was revealed, students from other colleges began to come forward to talk about their housing issues to due overcrowding. One student mentioned how is school dealt with overcrowding by taking double rooms and adding in extra furniture in order to house four students instead of two. Over the past several years, American universities and colleges have been plagued by overcrowding due to accepting too many students.

But why are universities and colleges are accepting too many students. Plain and simple, it's a one word answer: money. Accepting more students means charging more individual tuitions and making more money. However, as schools continue to accept more and more students, they aren't building more and more dorms. You'd think that building more dorms for more students would be simple logic, but instead of providing more space, schools are finding alternative housing methods, such as the auxiliary dorms at Purdue, which have currently come under investigation by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security for being unsafe and not suitable to live in.

If colleges are going to continue accepting more and more students without creating additional housing, then they shouldn't guarantee students housing for all four years -- only promise what you can provide. If students are promised housing, they expect livable and up-to-par housing. If a student is told that they'll be living in a quadruple room, they expect a quad that has enough room for four people, not a double room with extra furniture crammed in. And of course, no student is expecting to live in an "auxiliary housing" situation. Students should be given what they're paying for, and a storage room arraigned to fit ten students is not worth the housing costs at most schools.