There are many things you have to prepare for if your child is headed to college, and most of them are obvious. Where will your child live during the school year? Who will be their roommate? Which classes should they take? What supplies will they need? Of course, there are dozens more questions you’ll need to answer before school starts in the fall, but you might not think that mattress dimensions are one of them.
However, you might be surprised to learn that the mattress size in a college dorm room is probably not one you’ve ever encountered.
The XL Twin Bed
It’s very possible that your child has slept in a standard twin bed for much, if not all of their life. This is a very common size bed for children and teens. It’s even popular with single adults who aren’t living in college dorm rooms. You’re probably aware that college dorms are equipped with twin beds that can accommodate two or more students. But, what you may not know is that those beds are not your standard twins. They are what’s known as XL twin beds.
The XL twin bed is the same width as a standard twin, but it is five inches longer. This means you can’t just buy standard twin sheets for your college student because they won’t fit. You have to purchase special XL twin-size sheets that will extend the full length of the mattress. Almost all colleges provide XL twin beds for students living in dormitories, but be sure to check with your child’s specific school to verify this.
Why Colleges Provide XL Twin Beds
While some parents think colleges provide XL twin beds just to make them buy new sheets, that’s not the reason behind the speciality beds at all. The reason is much simpler. Colleges provide XL twin beds because they accommodate more student heights than standard twin beds. The average height of an adult male these days is 69 inches, so the standard 75-inch twin bed does not give people who are taller than 69 inches much room to stretch out on the bed.
The extra five inches of an XL twin bed puts the mattress size at 80 inches, which will accommodate people up to six feet, eight inches tall. It’s a much more comfortable size for anyone taller than the average height, but since it’s just longer, it still accommodates people who are shorter as well. This is why it’s common for colleges to choose the longer beds: it meets the needs of more students.
There is an additional benefit to having the longer twin bed in a dorm room that is about space. An XL twin provides more bed in about the same space as a regular-size twin bed. That leaves more area in the room for studying, socializing, and entertainment. It would not be as functional to put a full or queen bed in the room because the small dorm space would be dominated by the bed.
Conclusion
Most students live on campus in a dormitory for at least one year, so you’ll have to bite the bullet and buy the XL twin sheets. But after they move out, you can pass them on to another student who didn’t know they had to have longer sheets. They will be very grateful.
Also read: How To Build Bunk Beds With A Difference
