In light of growing concerns regarding off-campus housing, Tufts hosted two student focus groups in late September and created an administrative role for off-campus engagement. The steps come as students have expressed financial, legal and logistical concerns in navigating the process of finding off-campus housing for their junior and senior years.
The focus groups — hosted by the Dean of Students Office — aimed to better understand students’ housing needs and gain input on new housing developments.
The office also plans to conduct focus groups and surveys to gather information on the recently announced Boston Avenue residence hall, which is slated to open in fall 2027 and intended to serve as an affordable housing option for upperclassmen, according to Richard DeCapua, the senior associate dean of students.
Senior Joel Omolade, the president of the Tufts Community Union Senate, welcomed the focus groups.
“I'm really glad the [administration] is taking the step towards communicating more and having student input,” he said.
The university also appointed the former associate director of residential operations, Angy Sosa, to the position of associate director for residential education - off-campus engagement. Sosa remains a part of the Office of Residential Life and Learning, but said her new role focuses more on helping students find off-campus housing.
“While education is still the predominant goal, I hope to present more resources that will directly assist our students with their needs, including resources for subletting, furniture exchanges, and roommate matching,” she wrote in an email to the Daily.
Sosa advised students not to confirm their off-campus housing plans prematurely despite the difficulty in finding suitable housing options.
“I encourage students to take their time and learn about not only the process, but about potential challenges they can face in the times leading up to the off-campus transition,” she said.
For most students, living off-campus as an undergraduate is their first experience with the apartment hunting process, especially after benefitting from Tufts’ housing guarantee for first-years and sophomores. They often need to find brokers, navigate hidden fees and acquire furniture. Additionally, students often cite problematic landlords, legal complexities and increasingly high rent as major challenges.
“I think the system is a bit predatory sometimes,” Omolade said. “It is kind of an unruly and not the best system that I’ve been seeing. It’s really disappointing to see that the cycle just keeps on continuing.”
“It can be extremely stressful,” DeCapua wrote in a statement to the Daily, noting that one of the goals behind appointing Sosa is to create “more access and assistance for students.”
Many students resort to friends, unconfirmed online resources and what Sosa called “unmonitored” Facebook groups in order to find housing. Additionally, students must find housemates who have similar budgets and match their living preferences.
The average monthly rent is roughly $3,000 per month in both Medford and Somerville, which is significantly higher than the national average of $1,556 per month.
“Even though you can afford Tufts tuition doesn’t mean you can afford the Tufts experience,” Omolade said.
While university websites contain resources surrounding off-campus living, many students do not have a framework for what is reasonable when it comes to rent and other expenses. Both Omolade and Sosa reiterated their goals for increasing student access to resources.
“We don't want to reinvent the wheel,” Omolade said. “On the TCU Senate side, our biggest thing, especially this year, is knowledge and creating more opportunities for students to know about this process.”
In an email to the Daily, Sosa wrote that she will focus on “resource cultivating and sharing with our students … who have not had the experience of living on campus.” She also mentioned educational programming, a new Canvas page, a partnership with the Tufts International Center and the annual off-campus housing fair on Oct. 30 as steps her office is taking to address and prevent student concerns.
Students have also taken it upon themselves to create housing resources. Winston Hsiao, a senior, created Sublettr, a website that allows students to search for houses and rooms at dozens of universities. Users can filter by semester, year and price as well as view landlord ratings. The website was created last year after a house fire forced Hsiao and his housemates “to scramble last minute for off-campus housing,” according to the website’s LinkedIn page.
Omolade said he is well aware of the balancing act between student concerns, university interests and local constraints. However, he remained optimistic.
“There’s never such thing as ‘We can’t,’” he said. “Every time there’s a force that we can’t control, we try to talk to forces that we can control.”
