The Cost of Living: Prohibitive Costs in Student Dorms

Nick Dasoveanu
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

Many universities have a student housing policy requiring students to live on campus at high prices for room and board that many students cannot afford. On-campus housing units usually do not have kitchens or means of cooking, meaning students are also coerced into buying expensive meal plans. The average pricing of student housing and food is much higher than even the median rent and meal pricing in the respective areas of the universities, and many students cannot even afford the median. The universities that employ this policy do so under the theory that living in the hub of campus will be welcoming to first year students, but many students don’t find it to be an overwhelmingly positive experience.

Students from any college with a required housing policy are affected by these policies. Many times, students who accept admission into a college do not have another choice and are required to abide by the college’s housing policies if they want to pursue a higher education. Students are forced into paying a detrimentally higher dollar for their living conditions in order to advance their careers; this is simply against the end goal of capitalism.

It’s already become common practice for students to be able to petition for individual exemptions to the policy. Most of the time, the students who are granted exemption are on financial aid. However, many students comes from higher income families and do not qualify for financial aid while still receiving little to no monetary support from their parents. These students are the ones most affected by these required student housing policies, and these students are the ones who are doing the most to combat the policy.

Local community change is fairly straightforward as UGA has a required student housing policy. Petitioning UGA to create exceptions to the policy or abolish it entirely is a quick and concentrated way to counter this policy in a local way. Statewide change is also possible, since there is precedent for students and young adults persuading legislative bodies to regulate and counteract coercive school policies. Even national change is possible for the same reason as statewide change, and there is a continuing trend of federal legislation rolling back straining policies such as these.

Breaux, A. (2018, August 10). Should University of Iowa sophomores live on campus? Task force weighs pros and cons. Retrieved September 4, 2018, from https://preview.tinyurl.com/y8c8ae2l

Douglas-Gabriel, D. (2015, September 29). Freshman residency rules sometimes force students to pay prohibitive costs. Retrieved September 2, 2018, from https://tinyurl.com/y7gj9cue

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