# Introduction tudent housing promotes the active participation of students in school activities. It also plays an essential role in the attainment of quality education (Abdul Razak, Shariffuddin, MohdPadil, and Hanafi, 2017, Adama, Aghimien, and Fabunmi, 2018). Nonetheless, there is a noticeable inadequacy of decent student housing among public tertiary education institutions in Nigeria (Adama et al, 2018).The importance of good student housing cannot be exaggerated. Price, Matzdorf, Smith, and Agahi (2003) revealed that the availability of university-owned student housing is one of the significant factors that influence student choice of university in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, student housing also impacts the output as well as the academic performance of the students. Owolabi (2015) revealed that students staying oncampus perform better in their academics than students who reside off-campus. Despite the well-established benefit of student housing, there is an enormous student housing deficit among the tertiary education institutions in Nigeria. According to the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2018, the student housing provided by tertiary education institutions in Nigeria only meets 30% of the demand by students. The issue bedeviling student housing in Nigeria is not just with the quantity of supply. The tertiary education institutions are also plagued by the problems of quality, and satisfaction derived from the available facilities (Aluko, 2011; Adewunmi, Omirin, Famuyiwa, and Farinloye, 2011; Ehiemere, Egbenta, and Ogbu, 2013; Oladiran, 2013;Akinpelu, 2015). In assessing the housing situation among students of public tertiary institutions, Oladiran (2013) revealed the issue of inadequate supply of student housing at the University of Lagos. While Aluko (2011) found that there is a high level of dissatisfaction with the poor state and condition of the available student housing facilities in the University of Lagos. The study also noted the inadequacy of the existing facilities, which has invariably created a high occupancy ratio and led to overutilization of the available resources putting the facilities in deplorable conditions. On the other hand, Ehiemere et al. (2013) concluded that though public hostels are relatively better than private hostels situated in Enugu, they do not fully conform to the NUC standards for space allocation in tertiary education institutions. From the foregoing, there is a growing concern over the issue of the quantity and quality of the student housing provided by Universities in Nigeria for their students. There is also the issue of the challenges faced by students in seeking alternatives when they cannot access on-campus housing. Thus, there is the need to enquire about the choice of student housing, the factors influencing it, and the level of satisfaction derived by students of the University of Lagos from the student housing provided. This study will be of immense benefit to all stakeholders -school authorities and students of the University of Lagos. # II. # Literature Review a) Concept of Student Housing Sawyerr and Yusof (2013) view student housing as a set of accommodation provided by the school authority within the campus to house the students with rules and obligations put in place to monitor the behaviors of the said students and chargeable fees paid by them to have access to the use of these accommodations. They noted that these accommodations are fitted with shared facilities that S may be based on floor levels or between specific numbers of rooms. On their part, Ghani and Sulaiman (2016) observed that student housing is commonly referred to by different names, among which the following are predominant: accommodation, dormitory, hall of resident, and hostel. In terms of classification of student housing, Ghani and Sulaiman (2016) classified student housing into two types, which are location based. They are oncampus student housing and off-campus student housing. Student housing units located in the Tertiary Education Institution premises are on-campus student housing and in some literature are referred to as 'hall of resident' (resident-hall). While off-campus student housing are those housing units located outside the Tertiary Education Institution. These off-campus student housing are usually provided by private developers to fill the student housing demand due to inadequate supply of on-campus housing. This is done in exchange for rent (Hammad et al. 2013). It is imperative to point out that there are off-campus student housing that are delivered through PPP arrangements between private developers andschool authorities (Babatunde and Perera, 2017). In terms of the on-campus housing standards, Ehiemere et al. (2013) citing the NUC standards guide for universities (2004) highlighted that student housing for tertiary education institutions in Nigeria is two principal types; single rooms, and double rooms. The single rooms for one student's occupation should measure about 13.2 m 2 in floor area and will contain: bed, wardrobe, drawer unit, bedside table, worktable, shelf unit, and chair. The double room for two students' occupation should measure about 19.2 m 2 and should have twice the items found in the single room. The study noted that the guide provides a useable area of 10.20 m 2 allotted to the student. According to Ehiemere et al. (2013), the guide made provisions for bathing/sanitary facilities, common rooms, dining, audio-visual, computer center, shopping, space for recreational and social activity, and kitchen. # III. # Factors influencing Choice of Student Housing In examining the factors influencing choice of housing among students of Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia, Abdul Razak, Shariffuddin, Mohd Padil, and Hanafi (2017) found that the students preferred offcampus housing to on-campus housing, and the factors that influence that choice are freedom, and satisfaction, preferences, and lifestyles as well as living with friends. Sen and Antara (2018) evaluated the factors that influenced students in Bangladesh to choose offcampus housing. The study found that the primary factor was the limited supply of on-campus housing, while other factors include comfort, safety, and privacy, among other factors. The study observed that most people staying in off-campus housing would be unwilling to change to on-campus housing. Studies on factors influencing the choice of student housing in Tertiary Education Institutions in Nigeria include but not limited to Oyetunji and Abidoye (2016) for Federal University of Technology Akure, Adebiyi, Tanko and Oyetunji (2017) for University of Benin, Adama, Aghiemen and Fabunmi (2018) for Oduduwa University Ipetumodu. Oyetunji and Abidoye (2016) evaluated the factors influencing the choice of housing among students of Federal University of Technology Akure using the weighted mean score and discriminant function analysis. The study analyzed thirteen (13) factors to determine the factors that are very important in choosing student housing. Of the thirteen factors analyzed, the findings of the study revealed that proximity to campus, the rental value of property, and type of dwelling are the main factors that influence students' choice. The study noted that neighborhood attributes are not an influencing factor. While Adebiyi, Tanko, and Oyetunji (2017) assessed the factors influencing the choice of housing among first-year students of the University of Benin using the Relative importance index (RII). The study found out that income of parents or sponsors, price of accommodation, gender of other occupants, proximity to classrooms and other places of interest, security, the age of the student, privacy, availability and frequency of supply of utilities, size of the accommodation and the conduciveness of the environment were the most important factors that students considered in choosing student housing in the University of Benin. Adama, Aghiemen, and Fabunmi (2018) assessed the factors influencing the choice of housing among students of Oduduwa University Ipetumodu. The study applied the mean score and the Mann-Whitney U Test. The results revealed that the most important factors influencing students' choice of residence are: accommodation fee, quality of the environment, need for privacy, the influence of friends/desire to be close to friends, and the number of students within the building. This study, which was scoped to a private university, is instructive because it suggests that the choice of housing by students of private and public universities in Nigeria is influenced by similar factors. From the preceding, there is a consensus by the various reviewed studies that the factors influencing the choice of student housing range from the availability of housing to personal taste and preference of the student. Thus, it is necessary to determine if the choice of housing among students of the University of Lagos is influenced by the availability of housing or other factors. # a) Student Housing Satisfaction There is an abundance of studies on students' assessment of the satisfaction derived from housing Akinpelu (2015) found that the students of the Polytechnic Ibadan were unsatisfied with the housing provision made by the institution. The study highlighted the issue of inadequacy of the facilities provided for the students and the poor maintenance and state of obsolescence of the existing facilities. The hostels had a shortage of chairs, tables, shelves, kitchenettes, cafeteria, internet facility, recreation facility, and waste disposal facility. The findings are in agreement with the study of Sawyerr and Yusof (2013). In terms of housing satisfaction studies focused on the University of Lagos, Adewunmi et al. ( 2011) assessed the satisfaction derived by occupants of Erastus Akingbola hall, a privately built postgraduate hostel donated to the University of Lagos. The study used the mean score of occupants' response to 29 performance elements to gauge the satisfaction level of the occupants. The results from the study revealed satisfaction with cleanliness, lighting, the temperature in the building, comfort level, natural ventilation, visual privacy, amount of space, conveniences, car parking, fire safety, security, and air quality. The results also revealed occupants' dissatisfaction about internet facilities, noise from outside the building, common room space, interior design of the rooms, the telephone system, cooking facilities, air quality within the building, window type, room temperature during the dry season and response time to maintenance issues. The study is instructive because it revealed the willingness of occupants to pay more for the provision of those essential services. Another study, Oladiran (2013),revealed the inadequate supply of hostel accommodation at the University of Lagos, which has resulted in the problem of overcrowding. Thus, the study noted the inadequacy of the facilities fitted to serve the students. In terms of satisfaction, by employing the mean score and spearman's correlation to analyze students' responses. The study found that the level of satisfaction of the students with the hostel accommodation is 'good' in terms of noiselessness, indoor temperature, natural lighting, ventilation, and water supply, while it is 'fair' with electrical fittings, space, cleanliness and comfort ability. There is a general dissatisfaction with the maintenance culture, support services, and state of facilities. The study concluded that the accommodation and facilities in the hostels require improvement. The findings of Oladiran (2013) agrees with the findings of Aluko (2011) which revealed the presence of dissatisfaction among students of University of Lagos with the poor state and condition of available student housing facilities, the inadequacy of the existing facilities which has created high occupancy ratio has invariably led to overutilization of the available resources putting the facilities in deplorable conditions. Nonetheless, some of the findings of Oladiran (2013), to an extent, conflicts with some of the findings of Adewunmi et al. (2011). Oladiran (2013) generalized the issue of overcrowding, while Adewunmi (2011) observed that in Erastus Aking bola hall, a postgraduate hall, there is no issue of overcrowding. Also, the 29 performance metric considered and analyzed by Adewunmi et al. ( 2013) is more comprehensive. # b) Housing Situation at the University of Lagos University of Lagos, a leading public university in Nigeria, provides housing to her students in the form of fifteen (15) # Research Methods To achieve the aim of the study, questionnaires were administered to a sample of 253 students selected at random, representing undergraduates and postgraduates to gauge their level of satisfaction with the housing and also to rank the factors influencing their choice of housing. The study used the weighted mean score of responses obtained from the 5 points Likert scale to rank the factors influencing the choice of housing among students. The factors adopted for the study are adapted from the review of relevant literature. The elements under consideration are the availability of oncampus housing, quality of the on-campus housing, privacy, security, income of sponsors, hostel fees, proximity to school activities, and availability of offcampus housing. Furthermore, the weighted mean score was also used to gauge the level of satisfaction derived by students from various student housing elements. This approach was also adopted in dewunmi et al. (2011). The elements under consideration include: State of the hostel facilities, availability of facilities serving the hostels, response time to repairs and maintenance, electricity/power supply water supply, internet facility, privacy of the hostel, number of occupants in a room, cleanliness of the hostels, noise levels of the hostel, transport system from hostel to classrooms, fees paid for accommodation. In terms of the demographics of the respondents, there was a balance in the gender distribution of the questionnaire. The male respondents represented 51.6% of the total respondents, while the female respondents were 48.6%. Undergraduates represented 73.1% of the respondents, while the remaining 26.9% were full-time postgraduate students. 67.7% of the respondents reside in the school hostel, while 32.3% lived off-campus. The implication of this is that despite the established issue of inadequacy of oncampus accommodation, a considerable percentage of the student population reside within the school campus. The weighted mean score of the various factors analyzed suggests that the factor that has the most influence on the choice of housing among students of University of Lagos is the availability of student hostel with a score of 4.65, followed closely by security with a mean score of 4.63, which is followed by the following factors: proximity to school activities, quality of the hostel, income of sponsors, personal privacy, hostel To be able to quantify the degree of satisfaction for each criterion of performance, the following criteria based on a graduated scale of 1-5 was adapted from Adewunmi et al. ( 2011): ? if the mean response is less than or equal to 1.49, then the respondents are "strongly dissatisfied"; ? if the mean response is between 1.50 and 2.49, then the respondents are "dissatis fied"; ? if the mean response is between 2.50 and 3.49, then the respondents are "neutral"; ? if the mean response is between 3.50 and 4.49, then the respondents are "satisfied"; and ? if the mean response is between 4.50 and 5, then the respondents are "strongly satis fied" The results indicate mixed levels of satisfaction with elements of student housing. There was no indication of a strong satisfaction in any element of the student housing. The respondents were satisfied with the power supply, fees paid for hostel accommodation, and transport system within the university. The respondents were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the water supply, privacy of the hostel, number of occupants, cleanliness of the hostels, and noise level of the hostels. The respondents were dissatisfied with the availability of facilities, internet facility, state of the hostel facilities and response time to repairs, and maintenance. Consequently, the aggregate of the satisfaction levels of the various elements indicates that the students of the University of Lagos are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the student housing provided by the University. An overwhelming percentage (92.5) of the respondents indicated willingness to choose on-campus student housing if there are improvements in the facilities and services provided. However, in terms of the willingness to pay an increased fee, it was an evenly split choice as 49.5% of the respondents indicated a willingness to pay an increased fee for improved facilities and services, while 50.5% were unwilling. # VI. Conclusion and Recommendations The study investigated the factors influencing the choice of student housing and the level of on-campus. The study found that out of the eight factors considered, the availability of on-campus housing is the factor that most influences the choice of student housing. Other important factors in descending order are security, proximity to school activities, quality of the hostel, the income of sponsors, personal privacy, hostel fees, and availability of off-campus housing. In attempting to gauge the satisfaction levels of students, the study considered twelve elements. Out of these elements, the study observed mixed levels of satisfaction with the elements of student housing. Firstly there was neither any indication of a strong satisfaction nor a strong dissatisfaction with any of the elements considered. The respondents were satisfied with the power supply, fees paid for hostel accommodation, and transport system within the university. The respondents were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the water supply, privacy of the hostel, number of occupants, cleanliness of the hostels, and noise level of the hostels. The respondents were dissatisfied with the availability of facilities, internet facility, state of the hostel facilities, and response time to repairs and maintenance. Accordingly, the aggregate of the satisfaction levels of the various elements suggests that the students of the University of Lagos are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the student housing provided by the University. The study recommends that the University of Lagos consider providing more on-campus housing. Furthermore, the authorities should also consider improving the quality and facilities of the hostels presently available. Also, these improvements can equally attract an increment in the hostel fees, to cover the cost of providing those facilities and services. Housing Preference in the University of Benin, Nigeria. Built Environment Journal, 14 (1) 22Volume XIX Issue IX Version I( H ) student hostels. They include Name Population being served Amina Hall Undergraduate (Female) Biobaku Hall Undergraduate (Male) El-Kanemi Hall Undergraduate (Male) EniNjoku Hall Undergraduate (Male) Erastus Akingbola Hall Postgraduate (Mixed) Fagunwa Hall Undergraduate (Female) Jaja Hall Undergraduate (Male) Henry Carr Hall Postgraduate (Mixed) Honours Hall Undergraduate (Female) KofoAdemola Hall Undergraduate (Female) Madam Tinubu Hall Undergraduate (Female) MakamaBida Hall Undergraduate (Female) Mariere Hall Undergraduate (Male) Moremi Hall Undergraduate (Female) Sodeinde Hall Undergraduate (Male) Despite the availability of hostel accommodation, the University of Lagos experiences a huge student housing challenge. The former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rahmon Bello, reported in 2017 that the available student housing could only accommodate about 8,000 out of the 58,000 student population. This indicates a deficit of over 32,000bedspaces. The hostels are allocated to students through a random ballot process. Priority is accorded to the following groups of students: first-year students, final year students, international students, students' union executives, sportsmen and women, full-time postgraduate students. Nonetheless, all students enjoy common on-campus facilities of catering, sports and recreation, club and association, and health services (Aluko, 2011; IV. 1CharacteristicCategories% of respondentsGenderMale Female51.6 48.4Level of StudyUndergraduate Postgraduate73.1 26.9Mode of HousingOn-Campus (Hostel accommodation) Off-Campus67.7 32.3 2FactorVIIInLINIMean RankAvailability of hostel182608034.651Security1854914324.632Proximity to school activities1725719504.573Quality of the hostel1477919534.434Income of sponsors1407627554.355Personal Privacy1179538304.296Hostel fees110 114 19554.267Availability of off-campus housing82766311213.748The scale used for rating is represented as follows: VI, very important, (5); I, important, (4); in, indifferent, (3); LI, less important, (2);NI, not important, (1) 3Satisfaction CriteriaSSSNDSDMeanLevelElectricity/Power supply101933511134.02SatisfiedFees paid for accommodation491094927193.56SatisfiedTransport system from hostel to classrooms60954922273.55SatisfiedWater supply38847127333.26NeutralPrivacy of the hostel22577660382.86NeutralNumber of occupants in a room35663557602.84NeutralCleanliness of the hostels25683846762.68NeutralNoise levels of the hostel22545463602.66NeutralAvailability of facilities serving the hostel84646101522.43DissatisfiedInternet facility16445263782.43DissatisfiedState of the hostel facilities16335476742.37DissatisfiedResponse time to repairs and maintenance2386376742.28DissatisfiedAverage Satisfaction level2.91NeutralThe scale used for rating is represented as follows: SS, strongly satis fied, (5); S, satisfied, (4); N, neutral, (3); D, dissatisfied, (2);SD, strongly dissatisfied, (1) 4Factor under considerationResponse%Willingness to stay in the hostel if there is an improvement in the facility and servicesYes92.5providedNo7.5Willingness to pay an increased fee for that improved facility and service.Yes No49.5 50.5 25Volume XIX Issue IX Version I( H ) 26( H ) © 2019 Global Journals ( H ) Year 2019 © 2019 Global Journals ## Sample Questionnaire Kindly tick or answer where applicable SECTION A * Phenomenon Living in Off-Campus Accommodation among UiTM Students AbdulRazak FShariffuddin NMohd Padil HHanafi NH International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 7 6 2017 * Students' Housing in Private Universities in Nigeria: Influencing Factors and Effect on Academic Performance JUAdama DOAghimien COFabunmi International Journal of Built Environment and Sustainability 5 1 2018 * Assessment of First-Year Students Decisions on postgraduate hostel facilities JOAdebiyi BLTanko AKOyetunji Facilities 29 3/4 2017 * Students' Assessment of Hostel Facilities in the Polytechnic Ibadan OPAkinpelu Realities and Challenges. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 5 17 2015 * The Assessment of Housing Situation among Students in the University of Lagos OEAluko African Research Review 5 3 2011 * Public-Private Partnership in University Female Students' Hostel Delivery: Analysis of Users' Satisfaction in Nigeria SOBabatunde SPerera Facilities 35 1/2 2017 * A Comparative Assessment of Accommodation Standards in Public and Private Hostels in Tertiary Education Institutions in Enugu Urban DNEhiemere IREgbenta CAOgbu Journal of Land Management and Appraisal 1 1 2013 * Theoretical Underpinning for Understanding Student Housing ZAGhani NSuleiman Journal of Environment and Earth Science 6 1 2016 * Criteria for the Selection of Students Accommodation Model in Nigeria Tertiary Institutions using Analytic Hierarchy Process DBHammad JMMusa AGRishi IIAyuba Academic Research International 4 2013 * 8000 bed spaces for 58, 000 UNILAG students-VC 2017. October 14 News Agency of Nigeria * A Post Occupancy Evaluation of Students' Hostels Accommodation OJOladiran Journal of Building Performance 4 1 2013 * The Effects of Students' Housing on Academic Performance at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria BOOwolabi International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research 6 3 2015 * Assessment of the Factors Influencing Students' Choice of Residence In Nigerian Tertiary Institutions AKOyetunji RBAbidoye Sains Humanika 8 2 2016 * The impact of facilities on Student Choice of University IPrice FMatzdorf LSmith HAgahi Facilities 21 10 2003 * Student Satisfaction with Hostel Facilities in Nigerian Polytechnics PTSawyerr N Y Journal of Facilities Management 29 3/4 2013 * Influencing Factors to Stay off-Campus Living by Students SSen NAntara Journal of Philosophy, Culture and Religion 38 2018