Some colleges let students bring pets

 For some college students, the most difficult part of leaving 
 home is leaving behind a pet.

Some colleges now accept pets and they don't have to take the SAT to get in. Instead, pets are tagging along with students who can't imagine four years without their best friends around.

"All my son talked about during his first year in college is how much he missed Max and Jesse, our two dogs" says Lorraine Hayes of Tyrone, Georgia. "Not how much he missed mom and dad."

Even my own son, who left for college yesterday, wept as he hugged his two dogs and two cats goodbye.

That's why a few colleges have opened their doors to dogs, cats, and even ferrets, realizing that some students actually do better in school if they have a furry companion around. Animals can ease homesickness, help students feel more grounded, and even help shy students make  friends.

Which colleges allow pets? Here are a few that I know about.

Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, allows cats and dogs (under 40 pounds) as well as rabbits, ducks, and ferrets in special pet-friendly dorms. (Yeah, I can't believe ducks, either. I have never even seen them as pets except with Chandler and Joey on "Friends.") All pets must be at least one-year-old and have lived with the family for at least 10 months prior to the first day of school -- in other words, you are bringing a family pet along, not adopting one when you get there.  

The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) allows cats and pets permanently kept in tanks or cages that do not exceed 20 gallons. There is a $200 pet deposit (for the cats, not the fish).

Searcy Hall at Stephens College in Missouri is the pet-friendly dorm on campus.  Students are allowed to keep small animals and dogs and cats under 40 pounds on campus. Students at this all girls school can even keep a horse in the stables.

MIT allows cats, but only in "cat-friendly areas”, which include East Campus, Senior House, Bexley Hall, and Random Hall dorms.

Most colleges allow fish tanks and some allow small reptiles, so long as they are kept in glass tanks.

While bringing a pet to college can help students during this transitional period of their life, college may not be suited for pets. Trying to get back to the dorm to walk the dog three or four times a day may be difficult for busy students.   

As students move on, it's tough leaving behind the pets that have shared the last decade of their life. As for leaving their parents, well, that seems to always be a little easier for college students.