Living on an all-female floor was freshman special education major Jessica Miller’s second choice.

Like Miller, NIU students wanting to live in the residence halls have the option to live on one of the 26 same-sex floors NIU offers.

The demand to live on a same-sex floor changes year to year and Student Housing and Dining Services tries to meet the demand by evaluating statistics each year.

“We try to base the number of these floors on the demand they had the previous year,” Manager of Residential Administration Mike Stang said.

Eighteen percent of the 6,500 students in the residence halls live on a same-sex floor.

The reason students may choose to live on these floors could be because of a parent’s decision or because of the student’s comfort level, Stang said.

Some students choose to live on a same-sex floor to make up for not having brothers or sisters.

“I grew up in a household of three women and one male,” said junior communications major Ryan Fletcher. “It’s kind of like having more brothers as far as the appeal goes.”

Fletcher said everyone on his floor is busy the majority of the time and problems rarely have occurred on the floor.

“Students on my floor were able to bond faster on this type of floor as opposed to the co-ed floor I was on last year,” he said.

Other students said that a same-sex floor creates a comfortable living environment.

“I felt that it would be more comfortable for my first year to live on this floor,” said freshman undecided major Bia Karlos.

Girls are able to relate to what other girls are going through, and if there was a problem, having them around would be more comforting, Karlos said.

“I knew that being on a co-ed floor, there would be distractions. I wanted to get the experience of living with other girls instead of living with other guys,” said Erin Moran, a freshman elementary education major.

For some students, living on a same-sex floor may be a comfort, but for others, that isn’t always the case.

Miller said her floor started out without any problems, but as time went on, things got rocky because girls talk negatively and that can cause controversy on the floor.

“My boyfriend likes that I live on this floor because it cuts down on the temptation since I do not live on a co-ed floor,” Miller said.

Other students choose to live on same-sex floors for academic reasons.

Sophomore engineering major Brian Groszek lives on an all-male floor of engineering students.

Living on this floor was more of an academic benefit than a personal preference, Groszek said.

Number of same-sex floors in residence halls

Douglas 3

Grant 5

Lincoln 3

Neptune 10

Stevenson 5