Housing on the rise

Correction: The article originally stated that the prices at The Village Apartments went up $700 last semester. The actual prices only increased by $300.

College is expensive. With the exception of some scholarships for athletes and students, many students struggle with taking out thousands in loans each year, all while struggling to find a job in a small college town.

And now, with a floundering economy and the standard costs of living increasing, it has become even more important to track every cent.

Many GCSU students have noticed the dramatic increase in tuition and on-campus housing at GCSU this year. The most significant increase is the nearly $700 raise per semester at The Village apartments.

These rate hikes force students to look elsewhere for places to stay. Some return to campus, others move to apartment complexes promoting cheaper rates, and still others may switch to schools closer to home.

“The lower price is much kinder to your bank account,” said sophomore Nikki Wheeler.

Wheeler stayed at The Village the first semester of her freshman year but moved back onto main campus second semester.
“The dorms are cheaper, more accessible via walking, and cheaper,” she said.

Brandon Landreau, another student who moved back to main campus, is a bit more irked.

“Three of my other friends moved back from the apartments [because of rate increases],” said Landreau. “(Living in a residence hall) limits who I’m able to see, because I have a lot of friends at The Village. I either have to bike or ride the shuttle for 15 minutes over there. It restrains me from cooking. I really enjoyed it over there.”

Costs at every school in the University System of Georgia have steadily increased since at least 2005, with the highest coming from GCSU.

Larry C. Christenson, executive director of University Housing, explains where the additional money is going.

“The cost of running our halls has increased. Utility costs have risen for the University just as they have for individual consumers. We do everything we can to reduce costs and conserve, but that only gets us half way,” said Christenson. “Rate increases are inevitable. To rebuild and refurbish our facilities, we had to take out more than $100 million in bonds. The interest rate on these bonds increases 3 percent annually. That means we need to increase rates annually by at least the same amount just to pay our debt.”

These numbers eventually add up to a lot of money.
Like other apartment and housing complexes around Milledgeville, University Housing raises its rates to make improvements.

“Student rates allow us to maintain our facilities and make improvements such as replacing worn out mattresses, painting rooms, replacing furniture, increasing wireless Internet speed and adding features such as Residence Life Cinema,” said Christenson. “It becomes very costly to provide housing for our students, but it is important to do. Students are here to gain a college education and they can’t do that when their home doesn’t meet their needs.”

Every rate change is finalized by Georgia’s Board of Regents, which oversees the University System of Georgia. Many housing Web sites clearly state that finalization comes from the BOR.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 12 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry