Talking Stick - September/October 2018 - 40

is still well below pre-recession levels,
according to the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities. "Schools can raise
prices on room and board without igniting as much public furor as raising
tuition," Vedder notes. "And universities can justify that housing will pay
some central administrative costs and
relieve the burden on the rest of the
university."
Many, if not most, universities rely
on income from students to fund the
costs of room and board - which is
a great incentive to be effective, says
Alma Sealine, director of university
housing for the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. In general,
housing directors say they do not contribute funds to unrelated university
costs. Revenues and expenditures for
room and board, as reported by higher
education institutions to the U.S. Department of Education, fall under the
umbrella of auxiliary enterprises, so
they may also include student health
services, intercollegiate sports, and college stores. According to figures from
the National Center for Education
Statistics, in 2014-15, four-year public
institutions took in $24.8 million from
sales and services of auxiliary enterprises and spent $21.9 million. For
four-year private schools, the numbers
were $16.9 million and $16.3 million
respectively.
Some states don't allow auxiliary
dollars to be mixed with other university funds, while others allow universities to support items that affect residential life, such as security, police, or
other services. "Are institutions using
room and board to subsidize tuition?"
asks Sandy Baum, a fellow with the
Urban Institute who studies college
affordability. "There is some evidence
that the spillover may be increasing."
Some also argue that universities just
aren't as good as the private sector in
managing living and dining services.
"Universities are good at creating and
disseminating knowledge but not
necessarily good at providing hous-

40

TALKING STICK

$
The real
conundrum is
not how to offer
more luxuries, but
how colleges and
universities can
balance the need
to provide a safe
and enjoyable
living environment
within their
own budgets
without making
it unaffordable
for students or
creating a twotiered system of
haves and
have-nots.
ing and food," Vedder says." I don't
think most are minimizing costs and
maximizing revenues." Many housing
directors, not surprisingly, disagree.
"It's not just a numbers game, but also
a developmental experience," Sealine
explains. "There are other considerations besides dollars and cents. If you
only think of that, you're impacting the
student experience in a negative way.
We housing directors, as a profession,
are really grounded in the developmental framework."
Some of the costs related to housing are visible - new or renovated

buildings and furnishings, say. But the
costs of utilities, employees' wages,
and insurance, for example, play
an equally important if less observable role. So it can be frustrating for
housing directors, who say they are
constantly on the hunt to save money.
Some campuses are centralizing
administration to avoid duplicating
services, while others are using more
students, rather than employees, in
areas like cleaning and maintenance
or are offering students discounts on
room and board if they contribute a
certain number of hours of work to
the upkeep of the halls or other jobs.
Sometimes the changes are a win-win.
Replacing regular lightbulbs with LED
ones and installing low-flush toilets
and water-saving showerheads not
only save money but are also better for
the environment. Even small changes
can make a difference. At the University of Illinois, the terrazzo floors in
residence halls are now cleaned with
water and a diamond chip buffer pad
rather than solvents. Some campuses
have eliminated trays in the dining
halls, which has significantly cut down
on wasted food.
However, as always, cost-saving
has to be balanced with comfort and
convenience and providing a place that
is affordable yet nice enough to attract
students and keep them on campus.
While historically both private and
public institutions have charged below
fair-market housing rent for their locations, average room charges now tend
to be equivalent to local fair-market
prices. As Gore explains, prior to 2005,
"we were the predominant provider
of housing for our students." Then
private developers came in and built
brand new buildings, complete with
swimming pools, saunas, and other attractive features. "We've seen a steady
decline of students living on campus,
because there are more options for
folks. It puts a lot of pressure on
us - we're like everyone else - we're
competing for everyone's business."
Talking Stick - September/October 2018

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