It was shocking to discover that only 5% of first-year students were housed in university residences. These are the most vulnerable young people in our system, away from home for the first time and expected to perform in a post-school environment, very different to the schools where most of them matriculated. This was the state of affairs despite mounting evidence from local and international academic research. This shows that students who live in university residences perform better academically and cope better socially, than their peers who do not live on campus – especially in the crucial first year of study. Colleges can provide accommodation for only 1.4% of students – that is 1 in 70 students. Many of those students travel hundreds of kilometers from their homes in rural areas to the nearest college.