Abstract
The primary concern of the university applicants has always been to meet the entrance requirements and be accepted at the university. Once students are accepted another burden comes into their minds. The burden of a place to stay especially for those who are staying far from the university premises. Universities accept students from all over the country and even students from other countries as long as they meet the entrance requirements. The admission department is not concerned about whether the students have accommodation or not. Likewise, the lecturers in the lecture theatre do not care whether the students are staying in their homes or students’ residences. The content and the lecturing model becomes the same for all students. Despite all of this, the institutions of higher learning expect all students to perform well regardless of their living conditions. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of students that are staying in accommodations provided by the universities and those that are staying in their homes or self-provided accommodations. The purpose of this study was to reach conclusions on what are the contributing factors to good performance or poor performance of students. The study found that the type of accommodation where the student stay is a factor but the biggest factor is the personal motivation of individual students. The university provided accommodation to make all necessary studying resources available for students such as wifi and other equipment but students' commitment contributes. The study applied a secondary research methodology to access the results and statistics of students from various universities in South Africa.

Key words: Accommodation, Students’ residences, Private accommodation, Academic performance, Results.