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St. Cloud State University
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Cost of living not cheap
By Anne Osterberg
Published:
Monday, September 30, 2002
As the school year progresses, classes are getting intense and the number of exams is increasing.
Students have been maintaining the objectives of hard-working individuals, such as studying six to eight hours a week for just one class.
While students are living the studious lifestyle, they still have to worry about paying rent, in addition to maintaining a side job to pay for tuition and rent.
Many SCSU students who live off campus face the daily struggle to pay for their monthly rent.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Minnesota is the twelfth most expensive state in the country and the second most expensive in the Midwest, after Illinois.
About 35 percent of the state’s renters and 17 percent of homeowners pay more than 30 percent of their household income toward housing. That is considered a maximum amount that a household can pay and still afford other necessities such as food and clothing.
A student who lives off campus in an apartment would have to work 40 hours per week earning $8.65 per hour to live in a one-bedroom apartment. For a two-bedroom apartment one would have to make $10.21 per hour, and for a three-bedroom apartment, $12.88 per hour.
Living off campus does have its benefits, including one’s own bedroom, more responsibility, space and privacy, freedom.
But many students at SCSU argue that living on campus also has its benefits. The SCSU Residential Life fact sheet claims that students living on campus achieve higher GPA than those living off campus. The number living off campus is increasing each year, and these students seem to have a higher probability of completing their degrees. Students who live on campus get involved in student organizations as well as developing leadership skills.
“Students who live on campus are informed on the cost of living on campus. There are support groups in each dorm, and students pay more attention to their academic life,” said Valory McSweeney, associate director of Residential Life.
“Living in the dorms is a different place,” she said. “It might not be as nice as living in apartments, but students seem to achieve more while living on campus. The community is quit different, but students meet friends, and help establish a sense of belonging to a healthy environment.”
According to SCSU residential hall rates and payment information, students who live in a dorm pay $ 281 per month (not including a meal plan). The cost includes heat; water; electricity; extended basic cable; phone; garbage service and Internet access. Dorm residents also do not have to deal with hidden-costs or damage deposits.
“Each student who has a 21 basic meal plan pays $4.75 per day for 3 meals–sounds efficient to any student’s standards,” McSweeney said.
Nicole Grozdanich, a first year student who lives in Mitchell Hall, pays her own tuition.
After working hard all summer to pay for rent and tuition, she can afford to live on campus
“It’s no problem,” Grozdanich said.
She has a job on campus that pays $7 per hour.
“I would live off campus,” she said, “because it’s easier to get to work, but living on campus has its perks, because your classes are right there.”
