How Student Behavior Is Reshaping University Facilities Planning

Classrooms are emptier. Social spaces are packed. And up to 30% of “booked” rooms sit completely unused.

That’s what Aaron Benz, Founder & CEO of Degree Analytics, uncovered after analyzing Wi-Fi data from over 100,000 students across 10 campuses. “This is high-velocity quantitative data,” Benz explained. “No surveys, no sensors — just how people really move through campus.”

At the Higher Ed Facilities Forum, Benz gave campus leaders a rare look into how space is really being used post-pandemic—and where traditional planning models are falling short. By comparing pre-pandemic behavior (2018–2019) with current patterns (2022–2023), his team revealed a major disconnect between how campuses are designed to function and how they’re actually used today.

Key Takeaways from the Data

- Academic space is underused

Campus classrooms are seeing 25% less use compared to pre-pandemic years, even though class attendance overall is actually up by 3.5% due to hybrid participation. “We almost assuredly have 25% more space than we need academically,” Benz said. “People are attending — they’re just not always doing it in person.”

- Social spaces are being used more than ever

Student unions, outdoor hangouts, and libraries with collaborative layouts have become the most heavily used areas. According to Benz, “The biggest winner? Every kind of social space. Students are here — they just don’t want to sit in a lecture hall all day.”

- Dining behavior has shifted

“The total amount of people using dining facilities hasn’t changed that much,” Benz said. “It’s how they use them that has.” Grab-and-go meals now dominate over traditional sit-down dining. 

- Registrar data isn’t telling the full story

The study found that between 5–30% of rooms marked as “booked” were actually empty, depending on the campus’s hybrid usage. “This is that red pill, blue pill moment,” Benz said. “We know this is happening — now we finally have the data to prove it.”

- Energy is being wasted on underused buildings

Many buildings continue to run heating and cooling systems as if fully occupied, even when usage is far lower. Benz pointed out, “Most campuses could reduce HVAC energy usage by 30 to 50% if they just synced systems with actual usage.”

- Student movement tells the real story

With Wi-Fi tracking, Benz’s team was able to map where students were coming from and where they went next, uncovering surprising trends — like spikes in library use on Sunday afternoons. “We can even track where students go before and after a certain building,” he said. “It’s a whole new level of understanding campus behavior.”

Why This Matters

“The ways students, faculty, and staff are using campuses are now much less predictable than they have been before,” Benz said. From classrooms and libraries to social hubs and HVAC systems, usage patterns have shifted in measurable ways — and traditional planning tools no longer reflect reality.

He pointed out that most universities still rely on long-term, static campus master plans — often updated every seven years — even though student behavior is changing semester to semester. Benz suggested a more iterative, flexible approach. “Instead of building the car all at once,” he said, “what if we start with a skateboard? Then we add a motor. Eventually, we end up with an airplane.”

And as space usage continues to shift, Benz emphasized that facilities teams have a much bigger role than often acknowledged: “Facilities is one of the only departments that impacts the full student journey — from the first visit to alumni weekend.”

🎥 Watch the full talk here: 

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