Published: Aug. 1, 2018

In April 2018, the CU Boulder Graduate School partnered with Institutional Research to send a housing survey to 4874 graduate students via an online survey platform. At the close of the survey, 1676 students had responded, yielding a response rate of over 34%. Not every respondent answered every question. Results of the survey are given below.

Survey Results

What is your current status regarding housing?

Answer Percent Count
Actively searching for options for different housing 19.96 321
Satisfied with current housing but looking for new options 28.67 461
Satisfied with current housing and not looking for new options 51.37 826
Total 100 1608

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where do you currently live?

Answer Percent Count
On campus 12.06 194
Off campus 87.94 1414
Total 100 1608

 

 

 

 

 

How far do you live from campus?

Answer Percent Count
Less than 5 miles 63.93 902
5 to 10 miles 11.34 160
11 to 15 miles 8.79 124
More than 15 miles 15.95 225
Total 100 1411

How much do you spend per month on rent?

The estimated average monthly housing cost for students who report living off-campus is $970. Monthly rents reported by respondents ranged between $100 and $3200. This includes students who report living alone as well as students with up to 3 roommates who share expenses. Students who report living on campus estimate their housing costs to be about $860 dollars a month.

Compared to your expectations, how easy was it to find your current housing?

Answer Percent Count
Much easier than expected 7.57 119
Somewhat easier than expected 12.09 190
About as easy/difficult as I expected 38.10 599
Somewhat more difficult than I expected 25.19 396
Much more difficult than I expected 17.05 268
Total 100 1572

Have you used resources available to graduate students through CU to find housing?

Answer Percent Count
Yes 36.95 583
No 33.59 530
I was not aware there were CU resources for graduate students to find housing 29.47 465
Total 100 1578

What resources available to CU did you use or look into?

Answer Percent Count
Off-Campus student services 12.53 177
Ralphie's list 30.64 433
Bear Creek Apartments 8.63 122
Housing Helpers 9.34 132
Boulder Craigslist 21.87 309
Boulder Property Management 10.54 149
Other 6.44 91
Total 100 1413

Which of the following resources were helpful to you? (Select all that apply.)

Answer Percent Count
Off-Campus student services 9.39 69
Ralphie's list 29.93 220
Bear Creek Apartments 2.18 16
Housing Helpers 5.99 44
Boulder Craigslist 24.49 180
Boulder Property Management 5.58 41
None of these resources were helpful 22.45 165
Total 100 735

How many people factor into your need for housing?

Answer Percent Count
Just myself 41.9 660
Myself and one other person 43.05 678
Three or more people 15.05 237
Total 100 1575

Please rate the importance of the following factors when selecting housing.

(Displayed in percentages. Percentages above 25% are bold to show trends.)

Question Extremely important Very important Moderately important Slightly important Not at all important
Distance from campus 35.73 34.34 22.74 4.88 2.31
Cost 65.66 27.24 6.32 0.53 0.26
Type of housing (house/apt, # of bedrooms) 20.38 34.91 28.8 11.64 4.27
Housing/community amenities 8.09 20.99 33.95 25.39 11.58
Safety 30.20 33.82 21.32 10.66 4.01
Quality of housing 19.82 41.01 31.67 6.12 1.38
Access to transportation 28.72 31.42 24.44 9.88 5.53
Proximity to other interests such as entertainment venues, outdoor spaces, etc. 9.01 19.41 33.42 27.7 10.46
Resources for identifying and matching roommates 8.05 13.07 18.09 15.91 44.88
Being family-friendly 9.43 11.94 14.91 17.88 45.84
Ability to have pet(s) 24.26 10.02 12.46 12.33 40.94

(Total number of responses. Responses yielding percentages above 25% are bold to show trends.)

 

Question Extremely important Very important Moderately important Slightly important Not at all
important 
Total
Distance from campus 542 521 345 74 35 1517
Cost 998 414 96 8 4 1520
Type of housing (house/apt, # of bedrooms) 310 531 438 177 65 1521
Housing/community amenities 123 319 516 386 176 1520
Safety 459 514 324 162 61 1520
Quality of housing 301 623 481 93 21 1519
Access to transportation 436 477 371 150 84 1518
Proximity to other interests such as entertainment venues, outdoor spaces, etc. 137 295 508 421 159 1520
Resources for identifying and matching roommates 122 198 274 241 680 1515
Being family-friendly 143 181 226 271 695 1516
Ability to have pet(s) 368 152 189 187 621 1517

 

What is your age?

Under 25 27.63
25-30 51.34
Older than 30 21.03

 

 

 

 

What additional resources/assistance would you like to see with regard to graduate student housing? (Select all that apply.)

Answer Percent Count
Information about the City of Boulder and Boulder community on the Graduate School website 37.93 690
More options for connections between graduate students regarding housing 45.85 834
Other (please specify in the box below) 16.22 295
Total 100 1819