UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Each academic year brings students the same stressors: balancing classes, homework, part-time jobs and the ever-stressful period of finding a place to live. This spring semester, Penn State’s Off-Campus Student Support office, a unit of Student Affairs, is helping to make the off-campus housing search easier for students with their new classifieds website, Living Off Campus.           

Kelly Mroz, director of student legal services, says the robust website will be the new go-to place for students, with features like apartment listings, a message board for buying or selling furniture, and a safe space to assist with finding roommates.

Mroz says that students and parents were both reaching out asking for one place they could go to and start their housing search.

After a year-long strategic planning process, Mroz said the department is focused on better providing a spectrum of support for students across their whole off-campus experience.

The website will feature a homepage with an announcements section where students can find the latest housing news and be in-the-know about housing scams.

Students will be able to narrow down housing results with a detail-oriented search section. A Google Maps section will allow students to see how long the walk or bus ride is from campus to a property listing.

Interested students also will be able to use the roommate search section, which is accessible with a Penn State user ID. Transfer students will be able to apply online for access to the site if they want to start their search before they receive their Penn State credentials. Students also will be able to view floor plans and compare listings between their narrowed-down choices.

The website was created in a collaboration with vendor Off Campus Partners, who currently has over 100 collegiate partners in the United States and Canada. Partners include Big 10 schools like Michigan and Purdue.

“This website will be a valuable resource for students and parents, as well as landlords and property managers who want to be able to get their properties in front of the students, faculty and staff at Penn State,” Mroz said.

Off-Campus Student Support also can provide assistance for students who are still looking for housing for the upcoming academic year. The office is located at 204 E. Calder Way, Suite 200. The office provides resources to help students decide whether to move off campus, find housing, resolve roommate or landlord issues, get involved in the State College community, and more.