In an effort to attract the best and brightest undergraduate students, administrators at U.S. colleges and universities are beginning to leverage their physical facilities as major assets. Academic institutions across the country are launching ambitious, long-term programs that include the construction and renovation of academic buildings. They are also spending more on physical amenities, such as student centers and recreational facilities, to upgrade the academic environments as well as the quality of life. Within this context of increased construction activity, many academic institutions are confronting their aging and outdated housing stock and, in the process, some are developing innovative new prototypes. In this article, the author intends to show how recent residence halls can serve as a microcosm of current design trends that are emerging on college and university campuses across the United States. He focuses on the way that three institutions have reassessed and renegotiated their residential programs: Colby College, The Pennsylvania State University, and the College of the Holy Cross. If designed attentively, residence halls become important physical assets that can augment schools' other advantages, be they educational excellence, state-of-the-art technology, or location. (Contains 6 figures.)