Student housing cooperative
Encyclopedia
A student housing cooperative, also known as co-operative housing, is a housing cooperative
for student
s in an educational institution.
Unlike a resident who acquires shares at market rates to earn the right to occupy a specific apartment on a permanent basis (share capital co-op model), a resident of a student co-op acquires membership and occupancy rights by paying subscription fees or by paying rent (non-share capital co-op model). In the case of student housing co-operatives, members typically share a house and are communally responsible for its associated housekeeping duties.
Student-owned and -operated housing co-operatives were formed primarily for economic reasons to provide low-cost housing to university students. Secondarily, they generally provide experience in self-governance and social cooperation.
partnered with the National Union of Students and Confederation of Co-operative Housing to offer cheaper co-operatively owned alternatives to city housing for Manchester Metropolitan University
students.
. Several of the earliest US student cooperatives (e.g. at Northwestern University
and Wellesley College) had begun by at least 1915, for the purpose of housing female students. Other early examples started in the Depression years: Harriet E. Richards Cooperative House Boston University
, founded in 1928, and Michigan Socialist House at the University of Michigan
in Ann Arbor, Michigan
and Collegiate Living Organization (University of Florida)
in Gainesville, Florida
, both founded in 1932.
Currently, the biggest student co-op is the University Students' Cooperative Association
, now known as the Berkeley Student Cooperative, in Berkeley, CA with 1300 students living in 17 houses and 3 apartment complexes. Other large-scale co-op systems include MSU Student Housing Cooperative
of Michigan State University and UCLA University Cooperative Housing Association with 400+ students.
Examples of such cooperatives are College Houses and the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Texas at Austin
, the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association
at Oberlin College
, University Students' Cooperative Association
in Berkeley, California
, Community of Urbana Champaign Cooperative Housing
in Urbana, Illinois
, the Tri Co-ops and Baggin's End/Domes in Davis, California
, Santa Cruz Student Housing Co-ops in Santa Cruz, California
, Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative
in Santa Barbara, California
, Qumbya
in Chicago, Illinois, University of Minnesota Students Co-op in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, Student Housing Cooperative at Michigan State University
, Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan
, Brown Association for Cooperative Housing
in Providence, Rhode Island
, Universe City Cooperative in Norman, Oklahoma
, Kalamazoo Collective Housing in Kalamazoo, Michigan
, and Two Dickinson Street Co-op
in Princeton, New Jersey
.
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
for student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s in an educational institution.
Unlike a resident who acquires shares at market rates to earn the right to occupy a specific apartment on a permanent basis (share capital co-op model), a resident of a student co-op acquires membership and occupancy rights by paying subscription fees or by paying rent (non-share capital co-op model). In the case of student housing co-operatives, members typically share a house and are communally responsible for its associated housekeeping duties.
Student-owned and -operated housing co-operatives were formed primarily for economic reasons to provide low-cost housing to university students. Secondarily, they generally provide experience in self-governance and social cooperation.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, housing cooperatives as a whole are scarce as a form of residence ownership, and was only introduced in earnest in 2004 when MMUnionMMUnion
MMUnion is the students' union of Manchester Metropolitan University, an institution of higher education and research in North West England. Named Manchester Metropolitan Students' Union , until July 2005; and Manchester Polytechnic Students' Union before the institution gained its university...
partnered with the National Union of Students and Confederation of Co-operative Housing to offer cheaper co-operatively owned alternatives to city housing for Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
students.
United States
Artist, student and community co-operatives are common in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of these housing co-operatives are members of organizations such as NASCONorth American Students of Cooperation
The North American Students of Cooperation is a federation of housing cooperatives in Canada and the United States, started in 1968. Traditionally, NASCO has been associated with student housing cooperatives, though non-student cooperatives are included in its network...
. Several of the earliest US student cooperatives (e.g. at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and Wellesley College) had begun by at least 1915, for the purpose of housing female students. Other early examples started in the Depression years: Harriet E. Richards Cooperative House Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, founded in 1928, and Michigan Socialist House at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
and Collegiate Living Organization (University of Florida)
Collegiate Living Organization (University of Florida)
Cooperative Living Organization or CLO in Gainesville, Florida, is one of the oldest continuously operating independent student-governed cooperative living organizations in the USA...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, both founded in 1932.
Currently, the biggest student co-op is the University Students' Cooperative Association
University Students' Cooperative Association
Berkeley Student Cooperative is a student housing cooperative serving primarily the University of California, Berkeley but open to any full-time post-secondary student. BSC houses over 1300 students in 17 houses and 3 apartment buildings...
, now known as the Berkeley Student Cooperative, in Berkeley, CA with 1300 students living in 17 houses and 3 apartment complexes. Other large-scale co-op systems include MSU Student Housing Cooperative
Student Housing Cooperative at Michigan State University
MSU Student Housing Cooperative is a nonprofit student owned and operated housing cooperative serving students in the East Lansing, Michigan area. The MSU SHC was formed in 1969 as a federation of existing cooperatives in East Lansing...
of Michigan State University and UCLA University Cooperative Housing Association with 400+ students.
Examples of such cooperatives are College Houses and the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association
Oberlin Student Cooperative Association
The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association is a $2.6 million dollar non-profit corporation that feeds 640 and houses 174 Oberlin College students. It is located in the town of Oberlin, Ohio, and is independent from but closely tied to Oberlin College. OSCA is the second-largest student...
at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, University Students' Cooperative Association
University Students' Cooperative Association
Berkeley Student Cooperative is a student housing cooperative serving primarily the University of California, Berkeley but open to any full-time post-secondary student. BSC houses over 1300 students in 17 houses and 3 apartment buildings...
in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, Community of Urbana Champaign Cooperative Housing
Community of Urbana Champaign Cooperative Housing
Community of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing, or COUCH, is an association of student housing cooperatives in Champaign and Urbana, Illinois...
in Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
, the Tri Co-ops and Baggin's End/Domes in Davis, California
Davis, California
Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Santa Cruz Student Housing Co-ops in Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative
Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative
The Santa Barbara Student Housing Coop is a student housing cooperative designed to provide affordable housing for students, faculty, and staff of the University of California, Santa Barbara. It is a member of NASCO. The first coop was established in 1976, and currently there are four houses;...
in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, Qumbya
Qumbya
Qumbya is a Chicago housing cooperative. The cooperative is made up of three houses in the Hyde Park neighborhood: Bowers, Concord and Haymarket. All three are within a few blocks of each other. Each house has its own ambience and routine, but all three offer residents the opportunity to live in a...
in Chicago, Illinois, University of Minnesota Students Co-op in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Student Housing Cooperative at Michigan State University
Student Housing Cooperative at Michigan State University
MSU Student Housing Cooperative is a nonprofit student owned and operated housing cooperative serving students in the East Lansing, Michigan area. The MSU SHC was formed in 1969 as a federation of existing cooperatives in East Lansing...
, Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan
Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan
The Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan is a student owned and operated housing cooperative serving students and community members in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
, Brown Association for Cooperative Housing
Brown Association for Cooperative Housing
The Brown Association for Cooperative Housing is a 5013 non-profit student housing cooperative located in Providence, Rhode Island...
in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Universe City Cooperative in Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
, Kalamazoo Collective Housing in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, and Two Dickinson Street Co-op
Two Dickinson Street Co-op
The Two Dickinson Street Co-op, or 2D, is one of the three student dining co-ops at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. 2D is a 50-member vegetarian cooperative located across the street from the Princeton University campus.2D is an alternative to the eating clubs, which constitute the...
in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
.