Pet-Friendly Colleges Help Students Feel ... - Life With Cats

Photo: jackhynes, Flckr Creative Commons

It can be a difficult adjustment for high school graduates to leave the nest and set up housekeeping in a tiny dorm room. Thankfully, some colleges allow students to share their new home with a pet.

Beyond companionship, pet-friendly colleges offer definite social benefits. Wendy Toth, editor of Petside.com said, ?A lot of students take in a lot of different factors when deciding where they want to go to school, but I know of lot of [them] worry about the feeling of fitting in,? Toth says. ?A huge advantage is that pets provide social support.?

Thanks to their pets, students may have an easier time connecting with people in their new environment; they have something to talk about and most people love the subject. John Sullivan, a dean of admission and financial aid at EckerdCollege in Florida said, ?Students can bond over their pets, and I think that can be a way to meet some additional people on campus. It adds friendliness to a campus.?

US News and World Report recently posted their list of the ten most pet-friendly colleges:

• Case Western Reserve University: This university in Cleveland allows small, caged animals, such as bunnies or hamsters. Students in fraternities or sororities can even apply for a house ?mascot,? such as a cat or dog, to live in their homes.
• Eckerd College: Cats and dogs under 40 pounds, as well as fish and snakes are permitted at three of the school?s complexes. Once a dog even walked across the stage (with their graduating human) at a commencement ceremony.
• Lehigh University: Students can have 10-gallon fish tanks in the residence halls on this Pennsylvania campus, and fraternity or sorority homes are allowed to have one dog or cat per house.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology: There are four cat-friendly dormitories on campus. Students are limited to one cat in the residence halls and must contain them to cat-friendly areas.
• Principia College: The Illinois college allows students to keep pets such as fish, birds, snakes, lizards, and more in aquariums or cages.
• Stephens College: At this Missouri campus, Searcy Hall (students call it Pet Central) allows for a variety of pets, ranging from dogs and cats to lizards and birds. There is no weight limit and there?s even a doggie daycare available!
• Stetson University: This Florida campus reserves one complex for students with pets. The residence hall is open to dogs weighing less than 30 pounds, cats, hamsters, gerbils, and more. There is also a dog park on campus.
• Sweet Briar College: Some schools allow cats and dogs. Would you believe this Virginia college permits students to bring their horses from home. ?You have to be part of [the Sweet Briar Riding Program] to bring your horse, but if you [are], your personal horse can be boarded right there with you,? says Petside.com?s Toth.
• University of Notre Dame: This Indiana school does not permit dogs or cats in the residence halls; however, it allows students to house non-carnivorous, freshwater fish in aquariums, as long as the tank does not exceed 30 gallons.
• Washington and Jefferson College: Monroe Hall on this Pennsylvania campus ?permits cats, dogs that weigh less than 40 pounds, small birds, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, turtles, and fish. The college allows only one pet per room, so the school suggests students to discuss the living arrangements with their potential roommates before applying for housing.

Source: http://www.lifewithcats.tv/2011/05/25/pet-friendly-colleges-help-students-feel-connected-and-comfortable/

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