"The reason that we decided to do that is because it's part of our broader effort to promote student success on campus,” Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Mark Largent said to The State News. “All of the analysis that we did, all of our peers who have similar kinds of goals, improving student success, we've all come to the conclusion that on-campus living is a really important part of advancing student success."

The university is expecting a large incoming freshman class, with about 9,600 students that paid their deposits, MSU deputy spokesperson Dan Olsen said. There were 8,994 new students enrolled in fall 2020. This will be the largest incoming class at MSU in the most recent years.

“We were able to appropriately address our housing needs because we had indicators early on that this was going to be a growing class,” MSU deputy spokesperson Dan Olsen said. 

With a two-year live-on policy being enforced this coming fall, the MSU Board of Trustees will discuss budgeting and the cost of housing at the upcoming June board meeting. The university is not sure how the policy will impact the cost of housing yet. 

“Any change in rate would be part of the budget review process which the Board of Trustees discusses and reviews each June,” Olsen said via text message.

The university is excited to welcome back students on campus after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled a majority of in-person classes for the 2020-2021 school year. 

“We’re excited that more and more students are continuing to choose Michigan State University to continue their educational journey…” Olsen said. “We’re certainly excited and eager to see the next generation of Spartans join us on campus for an in-person experience.”