The Real Reason College Dorms Have Gotten So Expensive

It is crazy that $7000 per year for a shared dorm room is seen as reasonable. When I studied in Germany a few years ago, I paid less than half of that for an appartment style dorm (not shared and with my own bathroom and mini-kitchen corner). What is going on with these prices?

The government is your enemy, the sooner you realize this, the better

My daughter's financial package included housing. I looked at the Admissions salesman oops I mean counselor and said no she'll be commuting. But she lives 30 miles away!!! Well with the $50,000 you were going to charge her over 4years, we'll buy her a really nice car. That University a year later built a new dorm and made EVERYONE out of county live on campus. Yes all 4 years!

Sounds like an "inside job" facilitated by some nefarious university administration officials working with private developers to pad their own pockets.

It insane that everything all dorm rooms apartments everything is now designed and built as luxury and costs two arms two legs all your organs.

The idea of this increase in price making college more out of reach for the average American just proves that the people in charge of these universities don’t understand their own job. The point of college is to give opportunity to the hard working people who might not get the same chances, not to be elaborate expensive social clubs for the already elite.

It’s really just money grab that’s why you need to get a degree that pays.

It's weird but it's usually about sales and revenue and most educational institutions are caring less about education and more about everything else. You seldom see were industry steps in and funds housing for the benefit to business. You don't see widespread reports where college admissions people and businesses are saying,all the graduates from this school are perfect, they are prepared almost seamlessly for available positions in our company. The school, staff and business have developed a curriculum that has a student completely qualified to enter industry with little to no ramp up after graduating, they go from school to work and businesses and the country are really really benefiting. Instead everything is about money, schools make millions from telling everyone that they are worthy of 4 year programs, schools selling education that doesn't translate to job market and now instead of functioning pragmatic student housing so much extra that school makes millions from doing nothing and the developers are making money.. everyone wins except for students and education and the school is profitable from not doing a good job on education, but makes money another way.

I was so disgruntled about how the college was exploiting the student body for profit that it affected my GPA. Went from all A’s to a low B average. Then the college has the audacity to ask me for money after I graduate. What a joke.

Scams.
Colleges are turning into Disney World.
Everything is cheap, made in China, and frankly, has zero culture.

Smart lady.

It’s expensive due to free money y’all have for, grants loans and scholarships. Companies will charge more because the debt is secure in the sense it can be written off. In order for a transaction to happen you must be fiduciary in your commitments involving money. Not expect a bailout from the government… here is why: they have no money, they print paper, 80% of the M2 money supply was printed during Covid. “Life’s hard man..get a helmet” Candice Owens

Yeah, and they lease PER BEDROOM. One common area and 4 separate bedrooms were common at the school I went to.

Thankfully I was both GI Bill and old enough that I could live off campus. It was WAY cheaper to get a 1BR off campus than a shared apartment on campus. And that was 30 years ago, TSTC Waco was a "pioneer" in private equity provided housing.

Uni is just a scam nowadays. Their "non-profit" label is bullshit.

Why did the little girl stop to say that there was discrimination years ago. Libs cant resist- lady keep to subject

Free money guys thats the cause

People that have the option to live off campus yet chose to live in dorms are stupid.

As soon as schools made housing mandatory you just knew prices would escalate as greedflation hits. Scumbags.

Every time a public/private partnership weasels its way in, the “public” end gets screwed. It’s a sham. But the govt is in private developer pockets.

Paint me horrified!

Heh, my dorm is payed by the state

college is a scam - don't do it

Can we talk about how stupid is is for the colleges to sign a 65 year lease contract on these buildings? You know these buildings are built so they will fall apart around that time.

Ironic how many students will go from luxury dorms to shitty studio apartments once they graduate

This is going to backfire in a huge way for these private equity firms as universities will be facing ever decreasing enrollments due to more and more people choosing to not have kids. Less students will result in lower demand for student housing.

Why did dorms get expensive?
TL;DR, privatisation

At least you can say colleges prepare you for the “real” world

Rent should be strictly cost to operate them

The stopped charging rats and roaches rent

My dorm room, which happened to be the second most expensive at the school I attend, is $3,200. $16,000 is insane.

Im in the uk, im about to buy my first house and my younger brother is in uni dorms. His dorm costs 160% of my mortgage

I had one of these luxury dorms.

Boomers robbing Millenials and Gen Zers and then telling them they're lazy. At least you can live off campus. Mandatory college textbooks on the other hand ...

If the degrees aren't worth anything anymore, universities aren't selling education, they are selling a "luxury" school experience... Oh, and they aren't marketing to the locals anymore so much as marketing to foreign students. Even back in 2014 housing off campus was cheaper than on campus, luckily I was going to a school within the 50 mile commuter radius, and simply rented off campus freshman year lmfao

I’m living in a $1,500/month on-campus apartment next semester. It has a pool (that no one uses), a movie theater (that no one uses), its own gym (even though it is a 5 min walk to the main campus gym), and a made-to-order burger restaurant.

Most people think they add these things so they can charge us more, and I can’t disagree. No college student was ever going to use all that.

The only things with dorms that is needed is 1) Air Conditioning, 2) Good Wifi or even Wired Internet and 3) regularly cleaned bathrooms whether shared, semi-shared or private.

The fact they can require u to use them needs to be illegal

I was an RA at a “new-Ivy” and we had whole presentations about the new buildings they bought out and would be renovating.

My uni was also something like 40% international students. Wealthy international students. The rest of us (I went on full scholarship) can’t keep up:

Private equity. Ew.

Universities are a scam, public school is a travesty, go be an electrician, or plumber, or pipefitter..

Beautiful idea: let developers fleece universities AND students, both being completely voiceless/ clueless in matters of real estate and development, to set the rates. Follow the money. Find out which deans have received bribes for that. Either that, or the incompetence of universities is literally unfathomable.
Wonderful either way.

Voting policy people. America takes in 2 thirds of the worlds immigrants annually. These illegals don’t pay taxes.

Landlords gonna landlord even if that landlord is publicly funded

When are young people going to realize that subsidizing things makes them more expensive?

Colleges get huge subsidies, hospitals, insurance companies, etc.

Point to an expensive thing regular folks need and you'll see government subsidies.

Universities are acting like elite parasites that feed on federally guaranteed student loans. Throw the current system out - go back to needs only grants. The Universities will start to cut costs as students shop for value not granite countertops. Many Universities will go out of business as online options provide easy value.

I was paying 13k a semester for housing with no fancy luxuries, everything was run by the university they just scalped us. Just a 10x12 room between 2 people

Mark my words: we will pay dearly for the way the old dusty balls in power have stolen the financial futures of the young.

The fact the university doesn't put a price cap to keep their dorms affordable in the as a condition of their contracting, it shows that they're complacent. Willingly taking advantage of young adults and never telling them they're being overcharged is not a lesson; mallace is not a lesson in itself

Real reason:
Because they can, so why not?

Just wrong on the part of supply and demand as that system is not very practical