Cost of campus housing increases

The cost of living in the residence halls will increase almost 4.7 percent next year to account for other spending increases, including employees’ salaries and medical insurance costs.

The largest spending increase went into renovation and repair, which increased 14 percent from the 2010-11 school year.

“A lot of the money goes into renovation and building new residence halls, causing us to take on a lot of debt,” said Pat Connor, executive director of Residential Programs and Services. “These new renovations allow for different options and a variety of choices in the residence halls. To do this, it costs money.”

Connor said smaller factors, such as the increasing cost of oil and goods like toilet paper used in also contributed to the increase.

Connor said other solutions were considered to combat the rising prices.

“Residential Programs and Services worked with the Residence Students’ Association to consider a range of options,” Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald said in an e-mail. “The key choice made is to invest in maintaining our existing buildings, all but one of which are more than 40 years old.”

The percent price increase varies for each residence hall. For instance, standard centers like Wright Quad and Collins Center will increase 9 percent, whereas Willkie Quad, Briscoe Quad and Union Street Center will only see a 5 percent increase.
Increase is determined by the money necessary for renovation.

“Once priorities such as renovating and repairing residence halls are set, the percent increase is calculated so that RPS generates enough revenue to cover these costs,” Theobald said. “The difference in cost is attributable to the campus and local
housing market.”

The money that is invested into the residence halls is used to make the space better to live in, Connor said.

As a result, the cost of the residence halls that will be soon be renovated, such as Wright Quad, increased the most because this money is being invested in the longevity of the building, Connor said.

Because there are no immediate plans to renovate the RPS-owned apartments, the cost to live in these buildings will not be raised.

Theobald said the reason RPS is investing in the residence halls now is to prevent future costs.

“The alternative would be to not invest in maintaining residence halls,” Theobald said. “If this were done for any period of time, IU would then need to either spend a very large amount to compensate for years of neglect or tear down the residence halls. Maintaining the buildings we have is seen to be the preferred approach.”

This plan does not take into consideration that current students will not directly benefit from these future renovations, said RHA Director of Public Relations Alysha Balog.
“The part we are most upset about is that we are not paying for current costs, but future costs,” Balog said. “So they don’t even affect us.”

Balog said the residence halls are competitively affordable, even Union Street Center, with amenities such as water and electricity.

In the Big Ten, with the addition of University of Nebraska, IU ranked eighth highest in student housing costs this year. This is following a 4.9 percent increase last year as well.

“We try as best as possible to make rates that students can live with,” Connor said. “This is the cost of doing business. But we are also conscious to not price out of a cost that people can pay.”