College Students: How they are moving our industry forward

College students have proven to be a wild card when it comes to expectations from their living situations. It's not their fault though. They are always at the forefront of technology and expect that everything they come in contact with to be the same. They want to play their iPod in their car, watch TV on their cell phone, have a GPS in their music player. And they want internet. All the time and everywhere.

The great thing about this generation, is that you can communicate with them on many different platforms. Property management companies are learning that they are going to have to be more innovative and creative in their communication. Although it may seem difficult to figure out what they want, it's not! They want what is cool and different, and to feel like they have an intimate connection with every person and business they come in contact with. Social media is what can bridge this gap. MHN Online explores a company called Campus Advantage in a report called "Student Housing, A Different Kind of Property." Campus Advantage has found ways to engage and communicate with college students on Facebook and other social network sites, to figure out what it is they want from a housing unit.

One very important utility that college students have insisted is a necessary for their living situation is explored in the article called "Internet Is the New ‘Location’ in Student Housing." MHN Online looks at students' expectations for internet availability in their apartment complex. They want to know if you provide internet and don't want to pay for it if you do. This is a generation that grew up online, downloads their class syllabus from a website, has classroom discussions in an internet forum, and not to mention the wild addiction to social networking. Having access to internet is described in this article as more of a necessity than running water to these residents.

At Coin Meter Company, we have not only recognized this demographic's dependence on internet and their cell phones, we've learned how wireless they really are. Our company is operated on quarters and this particular resident runs on their credit card. Not only is it hard for them to find quarters, they really don't want to. Can you blame them? So in order to meet the needs of this market, our company is now able to offer smart card systems to our college clients, and with this comes a wide variety of options!

OneStop Add Value Stations: This system accepts credit/debit cards and cash to add value to a resident's laundry card. No quarters needed!

Code Based Revalue: Residents can add value to their smart chip laundry card via RevalueMyCard.com or use their cell phone to add value to their cards!

WaveRider Laundry System: This innovative system is wireless and cashless. A simple swipe of their credit/debit card right at the laundry machine and residents can take care of their laundry needs instantly. With this system residents can also monitor the availability of laundry machines online before leaving their apartments.

This market will always be changing, may never be satisfied, and we all may spend a lot of time and money to keep up with them. However, it's proven that this demographic is recession proof... so there is value in giving them what they want!