Today's University of Oregon students can scale their own rock-climbing wall and do their quenching at a juice bar. The center is twice as big and boasts the latest exercise equipment, an indoor track and other amenities, including the 30-foot wall and juice bar. We really see the new center as an essential element of the college experience. Across the country, campus dorms are cushier, student unions are swankier, and cafeterias have done away with mystery meat in favor of hip food courts. It's not just about academics.
Colleges tout amenities to recruit students.
And students are coming to expect the little extras. If students are happy, they'll come, stay and do better academically. Colleges are paying more attention to making students happy. Colleges also have beefed up freshman orientation programs and other services aimed at making students feel welcome. But increasingly, that also may mean offering creature comforts or unique programs that aren't strictly tied to academics.