The off-campus trend can be seen at other schools as well. After your fourth semester, the majority of people try to move off campus for their junior and senior years. Students start moving off-campus as early as their sophomore year. Both Ellen and Rita still live on campus, primarily for convenience, but next year they both plan to move into their own apartments. Samantha Gregg, a junior at Gettysburg College, observes that her school does not give her the freedom to decide.
Any trends are completely school controlled.
Nobody lives off campus except a very small number of seniors. In order to do that, you have to go through a lot of red tape. Just a few years ago, Carnegie Mellon University was not only recognized as a top school, but the also the school with one of the lowest freshmen retention rates in its class. Life at CMU is stressful, but living there shouldn't be. In recent years, the college has been making an effort to increase the retention rate, but as far as housing goes, they have not done enough.