Uptick to pay for renovations, state-mandated pay raises
The average room rate for campus housing went up 4.8 percent this year, with increases ranging from 4.0 to 5.8 percent.
The most expensive housing options, apartments on the Horseshoe and in the Quads and single-rooms in the Honors Residence Hall, will top $7,000 for the 2012-13 year. Hall-style freshman residence halls (Bates House, the Roost, McBryde Quadrangle, South Tower and the Women's Quadrangle), remain the least expensive at $4,330 per year.
Many of these dorms have also seen the highest rate increases. Residents in the recently renovated Horseshoe apartments, Preston Residential College, Bates West, Maxcy College, Capstone House and Columbia Hall will pay 5.6 to 5.8 percent more than last year.
Housing Director Kirsten Kennedy said many of the increases were market adjustments recommended in the university's master housing plan, which was approved by the board of trustees last semester for $191 million. The plan will tear down and reconstruct several buildings and add 1,173 beds to campus by 2021.
Some increases also went to pay for renovations completed over the summer. DeSaussure College and Harper/Elliott Colleges were both outfitted with new interior doors, stairwells and furniture for $8.3 million. Woodrow's new window installation and fire suppression system cost $2.1 million. Maxcy College's new mechanical system first-floor configuration for the new Carolina International House cost $4.1 million.
Rate increases for most other residence halls, including South Tower, West (Green) Quad, East Quad and South Quad, stayed the 4.5 to 4.6 percent range. Residents of the Roost, which is set to be demolished by 2017 in the master housing plan, will pay the smallest increase at 4.0 percent.
Kennedy said this year's increases are "fairly typical," and as buildings are renovated, the cost to live in those buildings will increase.
In addition to renovations and updates to the master housing plan, University Housing's operating expenses went up by $300,000 this year to cover mandatory pay and retirement increases approved by the legislature in June. The same pay increases also drove up the costs of university operations by $17 million, but current versions of the state budget will give USC $7 million in taxpayer funding to help cover those extra costs. Officials say this helped to prevent a drastic tuition increase.
Tuition for in-state students went up only 3.5 percent, the smallest percent increase in 13 years.
Since living expenses are not part of the university's academic mission, housing does not receive funding from the state, meaning all of the additional $300,000 in operations is paid through students' housing fees, in addition to some revenue from summer camps and conferences.
Kennedy said updating residence halls is a priority for the university, citing research that satisfaction with housing indirectly affects students' academic performance.
"Students will benefit from sustainable, clean, well-maintained, functional and attractive facilities," Kennedy said.
In addition to rent, all on-campus students have to pay at least a $50 "housing activity fee," which covers resident programs. Students in designated "living and learning communities," including Capstone House, Green Quad, Preston Residential College and Carolina International House at Maxcy, will pay a $100 fee this year.
When it's all added up, some students aren't willing to pay the rising price of campus housing, no matter how sustainable or attractive.
"It's absolutely not worth it to live on campus with the exorbitant prices they charge," third-year psychology student Connor Deason said. "I can get a 12-month lease in a house near campus for the same price or less than I get two semesters on campus. I get to pick when I am there and am not held by housing's closing schedule."