So expensive was the cost of rooming in the new dormitory (as rates varied from room to room) that within a few years McCosh felt compelled to build a dormitory intended explicitly for the poorer students. The result was Edwards Hall, completed in 1880.

A modest and functional building, Edwards was on the other extreme from Witherspoon: no fancy suites, no waterclosets or other amenities, and lower room rental fees. Its out-of-the-way location, below and behind Witherspoon and not far from the old Cloaca Maxima, also spoke to the low status of this dormitory.