Institutions of higher education are facing the difficult challenge of meeting increased demands for high quality education and services for students, while keeping costs low, and finding new sources of revenue to compensate for the decrease in funding from state and federal sources. In an attempt to meet these demands new strategies and initiatives have been implemented at colleges throughout the United States. Research has shown outsourcing is one such practice that seems to be successful, if implemented properly, in reducing costs and increasing revenue while maintaining the delivery of quality service. Areas traditionally found within student affairs such as residence life, career services, and counseling are just beginning to be considered by some institutions as potential services for outsourcing. This study looks at how student satisfaction at schools with traditional college owned and operated residence life programs compares to the student satisfaction at colleges that outsource their residence life program. Student satisfaction was chosen as the focus since there is not a lot of research focusing on how satisfied students are with residence life programs that have been outsourced. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]