Students are missing out on 'seminal' aspects of their development due to a shortage of accommodation.
That's according to Newstalk Breakfast host Ciara Kelly, who was responding to comments from David Fitzpatrick, president of TU Dublin.
Professor Fitzpatrick has said an increase in students commuting long distances means many are missing out on huge aspects of the college experience - such as involvement in clubs, societies and social life.
Ciara said there is so much more to college than studying.
"I think the days of digs and living in somebody else's house in a room, like a loco parentis... I think those days may be over," she said.
"I think my kids would absolutely hate that, and I think a lot of young people would feel that too.
"They would feel that it was an invasion of their privacy, or some kind of an intrusive nature.
"They want to live with other peers their own age, that's who they're looking for.
"I think David Fitzpatrick is exactly right: I think there is so much more to college than just studying.
"College is like a stepping stone into adulthood, where you have a certain amount of responsibilities but you don't have a job.
"A huge part of the thing is that you meet loads of people, you find your tribe, maybe you find yourself.
"You do all those things and those things are seminal to your development... it's like you try on different groups, different people, different friends, different partners.
"It's about forming yourself for adulthood".
'More basic accommodation'
Ciara said this ultimately comes back to housing.
"This of course isn't an education story, this is another housing story," she said.
"We simply don't have housing stock for students now.
"I know we know that we're in a housing crisis... but I sometimes think if you've seen the student accomodation that's been built around Dublin city, it's phenomenal.
"They have cinemas, games rooms and ultra-modern interiors.
"They look like people who work in Google should live in them, but they're for students so they're really expensive.
"I do wonder if we have too few, really high-spec places for students rather than what we should have - which is more basic accommodation for students.
"I don't have an answer, but I do think he's right that they're missing [out].
"What are we looking for as a society? What do we want for our young people?
"I would guess that what we want is for them to fully partake in college," she added.
