Exactly. If there’s a problem with University students not being able to cope living away from home, then I think that suggests wider social issues in the USA (ie adults not being able to cope away from Mum & Dad), and I’d further suggest that policies forcing students to live on-campus are A) exploiting that problem, B) counter-productive, and C) most definitely about money and not “student welfare” or “providing the College experience”.
Never did. It was a requirement, but you got a pass if you had family in the area, so I lived with my grandmother for my first year. A friend of mine had the required dorm room but never went there except to chill between classes occasionally - he actually lived in an apartment with his girlfriend.
I had a friend do something similar. His older brother lived in an apartment off campus, and my friend stayed with his brother. He hated his roommate and got him to cover for his absence.
His roomie was kinda creepy; I was a freshman when Facebook first started gaining usage (2004) and his roommate often messaged a lot of random girls and hit on them. He was in my Latin class and I just found him annoying.