Columbia will end its lease at the Arc at Old Colony after Spring 2026 as campus housing demand continues to decline, with occupancy dropping from about 2,000 students in Fall 2021 to 1,426 in Fall 2025, as the Chronicle previously reported. The college says it can still house all students who want to live on campus in its remaining three residence halls.

For many Arc residents, the loss is real. The building’s apartment-style units, full kitchens and more independent feel offered something genuinely different. Students who chose to live there aren’t wrong to feel disappointed.

But Columbia is not the same college it was when it signed that lease in 2015. With enrollment down sharply and the budget strained, the college is now carrying more housing capacity than it needs. 

Keeping a costly dorm with fewer students strains finances and redirects funds from critical student needs.

If the college has to choose between paying for empty beds or keeping faculty, courses and academic programs, ending the lease is the more responsible option.

Students may feel the loss of the Arc’s unique amenities, but they would feel the loss of classes, majors and professors far more. 

The priority now should be making sure the qualities students valued at the Arc — independence, community, livable space — are reflected elsewhere in Columbia’s housing system. Losing a residence hall should not mean losing those benefits.

Columbia’s next move will be to show that this was a thoughtful reallocation of resources and not just another cut students are forced to absorb.

Copy edited by Matt Brady