2008 Woodie Awards
Dorm fees may rise
Clara Hogan - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Metro
The tradition of over-capacity residence halls and increasing costs to live in their rooms will remain next year under a proposal scheduled for presentation to the state Board of Regents on March 11.
The report requests a 5.9 percent increase in room and board - from $6,685 to $7,079 - in double-occupancy residence rooms with full board. It also projects 101 percent capacity in the buildings, 61 people over the limit.
Von Stange, the director of University Housing, said the increase is due to jumps in salaries and benefits, ongoing projects, inflation, and food costs.
Of the last seven years' fee increases, this hike is the median, he said, noting fees ultimately vary depending on living options and meal plans.
The UI came up with the 5.9 percent increase by looking at the projected expenses for the upcoming year, he said. The housing department spoke with different entities involved with residence halls, from electrical companies to food suppliers and construction agencies.
The rises are standard for UI officials, but to incoming students the increase is troublesome.
Stephanie Mulstay, a senior at Hoover High School in Des Moines, will be a freshman at the UI in the fall and plans to live in the residence halls. She will rely on student loans to pay for her tuition as well as her room and board fees, she said.
She said the hike is upsetting because it means it will take longer for her to pay off her loans.
Mulstay also noted it seems living in apartment may be cheaper, something she believes is unfair.
"It seems we are paying more to have less," she said.
However, fee boosts are necessary to help with the housing department's ongoing projects, including the 100-bed addition to Burge Hall, which is projected to be finished by the fall of 2009.
The UI is also working to get card access to all residence halls. Quadrangle, Parklawn, and Rienow are the only existing halls that require students to use a card to enter the building.
Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa, and the UI will present the report to the regents March 11, but the regents will not vote until their April 30-May 1 meeting.
The regents have already approved hikes to tuition on Dec. 5, 2007. Tuition will rise for in-state residents by 3.2 percent, while the out-of-state hike is 6 percent.
If the proposal is passed, the total fees - including tuition and a double-occupancy dorm room with full board - will together rise by $645.
The report also notes that the UI is the only regent school whose dorms will be over capacity, and they are projected to exceed capacity through 2013. Despite this, Stange said, the school is not looking to build a new dorm because it would cost students a large amount of money.
"We always have students in temporary housing," he said. "Unfortunately, we're going to have them again."
E-mail DI reporter Clara Hogan at:
clara-hogan@uiowa.edu
The report requests a 5.9 percent increase in room and board - from $6,685 to $7,079 - in double-occupancy residence rooms with full board. It also projects 101 percent capacity in the buildings, 61 people over the limit.
Von Stange, the director of University Housing, said the increase is due to jumps in salaries and benefits, ongoing projects, inflation, and food costs.
Of the last seven years' fee increases, this hike is the median, he said, noting fees ultimately vary depending on living options and meal plans.
The UI came up with the 5.9 percent increase by looking at the projected expenses for the upcoming year, he said. The housing department spoke with different entities involved with residence halls, from electrical companies to food suppliers and construction agencies.
The rises are standard for UI officials, but to incoming students the increase is troublesome.
Stephanie Mulstay, a senior at Hoover High School in Des Moines, will be a freshman at the UI in the fall and plans to live in the residence halls. She will rely on student loans to pay for her tuition as well as her room and board fees, she said.
She said the hike is upsetting because it means it will take longer for her to pay off her loans.
Mulstay also noted it seems living in apartment may be cheaper, something she believes is unfair.
"It seems we are paying more to have less," she said.
However, fee boosts are necessary to help with the housing department's ongoing projects, including the 100-bed addition to Burge Hall, which is projected to be finished by the fall of 2009.
The UI is also working to get card access to all residence halls. Quadrangle, Parklawn, and Rienow are the only existing halls that require students to use a card to enter the building.
Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa, and the UI will present the report to the regents March 11, but the regents will not vote until their April 30-May 1 meeting.
The regents have already approved hikes to tuition on Dec. 5, 2007. Tuition will rise for in-state residents by 3.2 percent, while the out-of-state hike is 6 percent.
If the proposal is passed, the total fees - including tuition and a double-occupancy dorm room with full board - will together rise by $645.
The report also notes that the UI is the only regent school whose dorms will be over capacity, and they are projected to exceed capacity through 2013. Despite this, Stange said, the school is not looking to build a new dorm because it would cost students a large amount of money.
"We always have students in temporary housing," he said. "Unfortunately, we're going to have them again."
E-mail DI reporter Clara Hogan at:
clara-hogan@uiowa.edu
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