When coming to college, there are certain expectations for the typical experience. The late-night studying, the rushed orders of bad fast food (as if there were good fast food), the late nights and even later mornings spent sleeping in. One of these expectations, however, has caused us to have some serious doubts about how USC handles our four years: housing.
For the last four years, prices for housing have increased by an average of $900 per student. This increase has surpassed inflation and has supposedly gone to resident support — an airy term that somehow includes resident mentor stipends, maintenance and (we suppose) the general feeling of being, well, supported. And that's a tough thing to put a price on.
Once everything has been said, students, this might be your fault. Surveys have showed countless times that college campuses want suite-style housing, and recently announced renovations from USC hope to fulfill that desire. Suite-style comes with a price, and if we aren't prepared to pay it, we become just as two-faced as the big, bad administrators trying to meet our demands.
However, the push toward suite-style has to have some limits. The university might get ahead of itself in an effort to please the student body — one that is growing increasingly more hostile when it comes to balancing prices with services offered. Not all students can afford these new residences, and the option for more traditional housing should remain for those willing to take a cut in quality. Nowadays, we are all more willing to deal with what's given to us if it means that our bank balances can stay in the green just a little longer.
We all want an adequate college living experience. But the bells and whistles that the university tries to offer us might be out of our reach. Development projects might make our school more competitive, but providing for as many students as possible keeps our school open to all of us.