One Way to Improve Your College Town: Pay Your Faculty to Live There

When Steven and Amy Oatis accepted positions at the University of the Ozarks 19 years ago, they moved into a house in the university’s home city, Clarksville, Ark. "City" is a bit of a misnomer: Clarksville is a 9,500-person community approximately 100 miles from either Little Rock or Fayetteville. But now the Oatises are planning to move back into town. They are doing so in order to take advantage of a new homebuyer program offered by the university that’s meant to encourage faculty and staff members to live closer to campus.