The pros and cons of student housing
Choosing a school can be the most crucial decision for students planning on a college education; however, it is not the only one. After the acceptance letters are mailed, a student acknowledges they will soon be leaving the nest.
Survival becomes the next objective and the hunt for an apartment is on. But one question still remains: Should I live on campus or off campus?
USU juniors Kelcie Welch, Laura Luke and Carlos Mendoza all have opinions. All three students have resided in different areas both on and off campus.
Assistance
A leaky shower or roommate problems is typically not anticipated by most new students. In on-campus housing, resident assistants, or RAs, are assigned to each floor to enforce rules, solve conflict and assist resident needs.
When you live off campus, it is most likely that you will deal with a landlord or apartment manager. They usually take maintenance requests and accept rent/deposit payments.
When comparing an RA with an apartment manager, Welch said RAs are more personable and seem to care more about their residents. She said the downside is that while the RA can become your friend, they still have to enforce rules.
With landlords, Welch said they don’t get to know you and are more about business. She said they can be hard to get a hold of, whereas an RA lives down the hall.
Welch also said that on-campus housing is much faster to respond to maintenance issues whereas living off campus, it depends on your landlord. Despite this, Welch said she prefers to work with landlords because they interfere less and you feel more independent.
Apartment manager Darla Clark owns off-campus apartment buildings Clarksburg, Breslaw, and Stoneleigh. Clark said she strives to have a good relationship with tenants by being accessible and dealing with them directly. Clark said she even throws a party at the beginning of the school year for her tenants.
“This is a business for me. I want to make sure it runs right,” Clark said.
Former RA and current senior Marcus Morrison said he feels living on-campus can provide students with extra structure especially during their first college years. He said it also benefits them socially and makes it easier for them to make friends.
“As an RA, I felt I had more contact and care for my residents. I actually want them in enjoy college and do well,” Morrison said.
Morrison also said USU housing is full of “people who care and look out for you.”
Safety/Security
All three students said they feel safe in Logan, but with the addition of USU police, the on-campus escort service and the fact that on-campus housing buildings get locked during evening hours, all three said that they felt safer living on campus.
“On-campus feels safer because there are more people,” Mendoza said.
Food
At USU, if you live in Central Campus, or the Living and Learning Community, you must purchase a traditional meal plan. For other on-campus residents, meal plans are optional. Traditional meal plans range from $875-1700 per semester. Block meal plans cost $182-510 dollars.
Mendoza said he felt his purchase of a meal plan was worth his money and is beneficial for some students.
“A bunch of people coming out of high school don’t know how to cook. It was expensive, but I say it’s worth it,” Mendoza said.
Welch said she also felt her meal plan was expensive but convenient.
“All I had to do was swipe my card and I saved time not only on cooking, but grocery shopping as well. It was also perfect for that hour break in between classes and was close to my dorm,” Welch said.
On the other hand, Luke chose on-campus housing with a kitchenette and opted to cook her own meals.
“It was important to me to have that extra living/kitchen space and be able to cook,” Luke said.
Privacy
All three students agreed that off-campus housing provides a student with more privacy. They said on-campus housing tends to be more social: people walk into each other’s dorms and doors are left propped open.
Off-campus, all three felt that because you are more spaced out, doors are more commonly left closed, giving more privacy. Students are also living with fewer people in such a close proximity.
Luke, Mendoza and Welch said finding an affordable private room is easier, although is still costs more than sharing a room. Some on-campus housing does not give the option for private rooms.
“I feel more at home not in a dorm. I have my own space and I got to bring in more of my own things,” Luke said.
Location, Location, Location.
With USU housing, students can literally be minutes from your classes. If students do not live in central campus areas, designated shuttle stops are placed throughout on-campus living areas.
Some off-campus living areas are located next to shuttle stops as well. Luke said her off-campus house is located the same distance from campus as her dorm was.
A fan of walking to school, Luke said, “I just need better snow boots.”
Mendoza said his off-campus apartment still keeps in him in very close reach of campus.
On the other hand, Welch said she misses the convenience of living close to campus. Welch said when she lived on campus or in her sorority house, she found less temptation to skip class.
“If I was running late, I could just get up and go to class,” Welch said.
Cost
On-campus living provides a flat cost for living expenses either by the semester or the year. Students can even pay one sum through their USU Banner Access account and be done.
With off-campus living, depending on where you choose to live, it is more common to have a monthly rent. Rent can usually be paid by the semester as well, but some businesses will require you to take care of your own cable, Internet and utility bills.
Welch said after looking at multiple apartments, she chose her current apartment because they bundle all costs into a flat monthly fee.
“As a student, I have to look out for my budget and with one fee, that makes it less of a hassle,” Welch said.
Luke has resided in a dorm, apartment and house. Luke said she found she saved the most when living in an apartment, but was willing to pay a little extra to reside in a more spacious home.
Mendoza said his costs have stayed relatively the same without having to pay for a meal plan.
Experience
Overall, the three students said they have had good experiences living both on- and off-campus. They agreed that, socially, on-campus provides the best opportunities through activities and living in close proximity.
They said living on-campus can help you adjust to college life. All three also said they would recommend living on campus to freshman students.
Luke said, “if you are a freshman, it is good to live on-campus for the social aspect, but being a junior, I prefer living off-campus because I like the idea of going to school but not always being at school. It is more flexible and I can do my own thing.”
– jessie.a.sweat@aggiemail.usu.edu
