Staff Editorial | Rising residential living costs cause added stress

With the approach of the fall 2006 semester, students have received notice of increases in tuition, room, and board. While tuition has predictably increased over the years, the majority of students who plan to live in senior housing were surprised and upset by a new $500 charge that covers maintenance of the apartments.

Unfortunately, the new charge is indicative of a contradiction at the College: while encouraging students to stay on campus for the residential college experience, Vassar is making it increasingly expensive and therefore unfeasible to do so. Vassar defines itself as a residential college, which implies that the majority of students live on campus. The College considers the on-campus living experience to be part of a Vassar education’s value. Despite this, a growing number of students choose not to live on campus, primarily for economic reasons. For the 2006-2007 academic year, the price of housing will rise from $4,190 per semester in 2005-2006 to $4,310, with seniors paying $4,810 due to the new fee. Add to that the additional $100 parking charge, coming to a grand total of nearly $5,000. Due to these increases, more students may choose to live off campus, which is often a less costly option.

In order to build a residential community and ensure that the College accumulates enough money from room and board to offset its necessary expenses, the College advocates students living on campus. Although the College’s intentions of building community are positive, the actions of adding what to some seem like exorbitant fees to the price of campus living do not support this. Raising the cost of campus living will, and has, driven financially-conscious students to seek more affordable living off-campus.

The College currently faces rising costs for a number of reasons such as rising energy costs, and must account for these changes in order to maintain a balanced budget. While the College ought to keep their financial interests in mind, rising housing costs are creating an added stress on students. Furthermore, although part of the new cost for senior housing could be attributed to renovating the formerly mold-infested Town Houses, the College should provide housing without health hazards—and not pass that cost along to students.

Many costs cannot be avoided, and President Fergusson and the Board of Trustees have worked hard to build community and keep costs reasonable. But students remain concerned about these recent hikes in room and board fees.

On July 1, our new president, Catharine Bond Hill, and the new Board of Trustees chair will arrive on campus. Hill is known for supporting programs which emphasize the affordability of higher education, and for championing economic equality. We hope that she will start her term by making active improvements to the strenuous costs facing many students.

There is no simple answer to how to deal with rising costs of housing and tuition at institutions of higher learning. Certainly, colleges and universities must be in solid financial standing in order to support academic programs and other aspects of student life. Nevertheless, issues of affordability at the College ought to be further investigated as the cost of attending college anywhere in the country becomes increasingly expensive.