The high cost of accommodation has become a deterrent for some would-be students to study in Canberra. Last year, UC student William Woodbridge staged a one-man protest against the cost and quality of housing options by spending three months living aboard a raft on Lake Ginninderra.

Now, an ambitious expansion of student residences has enabled UC vice-chancellor Stephen Parker to promise that from next year, accommodation will be available for the university's international and first-year domestic students.

Professor Parker said UC used to give preference to first-year students when allocating accommodation. "We've had preference schemes and it's been very likely that an out-of-town, first-year student would get accommodation but we stopped short of guaranteeing,'' he said. "This is now quite a big guarantee - it's a guarantee to every student in their first year and to every international student throughout their studies.''

Professor Parker said a lack of guaranteed accommodation may have made some students think twice about studying in Canberra. "The uncertainty of it is a challenge in itself, especially in the international market, which is highly competitive,'' he said.

"A university which can show a picture of a room on its website and guarantee that kind of room really assures parents and agents that as soon as a student sets foot in the place they know exactly where they can go.''

Under the ''Accommodation Guarantee Scheme'', single rooms would be available, starting from $141 a week. The accommodation would be guaranteed by providers Campus Living Villages, Arscott House and Uni Lodge.

This included Weeden Lodge, an accommodation facility that opened in the Belconnen town centres last year. A new wing of it is due to open at the start of next year.

The eight-story Cooper Lodge on the university campus is due to be completed in January. The ANU already guarantees undergraduate students from outside the Canberra region accommodation.