A 1981 survey by the American Council on Education's Higher Education Panel of a stratified sample of colleges and universities looked at the condition of student housing. The survey provides a broad assessment of occupancy rates, extent of substandard housing, students' housing expenses, and off-campus rental housing conditions. The survey also asked about such financial aspects as operating costs, indebtedness, and replacement value. Among the highlights are these: two-thirds provided residential facilities in fall 1980; private institutions housed a larger proportion of full-time students than public institutions; occupancy rates were high at each institution type, and universities exceeded slightly the facilities' design capacity; 1 percent of students in institutionally controlled housing were in substandard quarters; the average monthly single student charge in fall 1980 was $108 at private institutions and $97 at public institutions, with charges for married students 60 and 54 percent higher, respectively; over 2,000 institutions with housing facilities spent $2.6 billion of current funds on such facilities in fiscal year 1981; and operations and maintenance expenditures amounted to $1.1 billion in fiscal year 1981, about two-fifths for utilities. (Author/MSE)