Providing or offering students somewhere to live has for some eight centuries in Britain and mainland Europe been part of the need and the mission--even the definition--of a university and other forms of higher education. The characteristics and declared purposes of "somewhere to live" have changed profoundly from phase to phase of…

The legal issues involved in requiring students to live on campus, the parietal rule, are examined. It is suggested that the reason for establishing student housing and the rationale justifying the establishment of residence halls are important aspects of the question. Court cases are cited from 1899 that upheld the college's right to exemption…