Fido may not be able to come to campus in the fall, but at some colleges across the nation, dogs and other pets are more than welcome.
Many U.S. colleges, including AU, allow fish as pets. However, a few schools have designated areas where students can live with other pets.
At Stephens College, a four-year women's college in Columbia, Mo., the first floor in a residence hall is the designated pet floor. Residents must pay a $200 deposit, refundable only if no damage is done to the room by the pet.
According to the college's policy sheet, birds, hamsters, rabbits, mice, rats, gerbils and guinea pigs must be caged when the student is not in the room. Cats must be spayed or neutered and current on all vaccinations. Dogs are allowed only if they weigh less than 40 pounds and their vaccinations are up to date. They also must be crated when the student is not in the room.
Any animals not mentioned above are not allowed on the pet floor, according to the policy sheet.
The program, which is in its first year, has been popular with prospective students, and current students seem to enjoy it, said Sarah Berghorn, public relations manager for Stephens College.
"Students enjoy being in contact with the animals since many of them have left their own pets behind when coming to college," she said. "They serve as stress-relievers for the students."
Not all students love the pet policy, however.
"It doesn't bother me because I don't live in that dorm, but a lot of my sorority sisters do and they hate it," said Laura Eisenbaum, a sophomore at Stephens College. "The dogs bark all the time, and sometimes the hallway smells."
The policy includes measures for keeping the dorms clean. Pet waste must be disposed of in outside dumpsters, and pets are not allowed in common areas. Students may not leave pets in the dorms over breaks.
Other schools allow some larger pets as well, with the exception of dogs. The State University of New York in Canton, Ohio, allows non-canine pets on a case-by-case basis, said Courtney Battista, director of housing at SUNY Canton.
Two floors of one residence hall wing are currently dedicated to pets, and a third will be added next fall. The pet floors are heavily requested housing options, Battista said.
"It's been relatively controlled since we've had it," she said. If pets wander off, owners are usually there to get them, she added.
The subject of pet floors has come up occasionally at AU, usually with live-in resident directors, said Julie Weber, executive director of AU's Housing and Dining.
As of now, Housing has not allowed pets, even for live-in staff. "We really haven't had a pressing need," Weber said.
Housing has had more requests for snakes than cats or dogs, she said. Even if students were to request dogs to be allowed in the residence halls, Weber said that having a dog in an environment where it cannot run and play is not the best living arrangement for it.
Fiona Blackmon-Burns, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that pets in the dorms would lead to responsibility issues.
"When you have this many people living in such small quarters, there aren't enough college students that will be responsible enough [to take care of pets]," she said.
Pets escaping their rooms and others students' allergies are issues that could also cause problems, Blackmon-Burns said.
Jessica Buono, a sophomore in CAS, said she would like to have a pet, but realizes the issues that could occur with animals in dorms.
"I would enjoy having a pet, a cat or a dog, but I understand why Housing and Dining wouldn't allow them," she said.
