2009-2010 Room and Board Rates
The cost of housing and dining plans for students on all four campuses will increase next year, University officials confirmed Tuesday.
The increases, which range from 2 to 15 percent depending on the residence hall and dining plan, were approved and finalized by the Arizona Board of Regents at a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
An overview of the report released by the board said students on the Tempe campus will face an average annual increase of 7 percent, or $300, in dorm rates and 3 percent, or $94, in meal-plan costs.
Students at the Polytechnic, West, and Downtown campuses will all see similar increases on average, according to the report.
ABOR spokesman Mark Denke said the increases are based on inflation and costs incurred by new projects, such as new buildings.
“The University has to include rationales for their requests,” Denke said. “For example, on Downtown campus, they started a new-ground lease … for a second [Taylor Place] tower.”
Some of the costs the University will be covering include new, separate dining plans for students at Barrett, the Honors College, Denke said. He added the increases proposed this year are consistent with increases in previous years.
“[The increases] are in line with what they typically are every year,” he said. “When they keep it around the 6, 7 percent range, that’s not abnormally high.”
The fee increases vary greatly by residence hall. For example, residents in University Towers on the Tempe campus will see their housing costs go up by 12 percent, or $600 annually, while residents of South Desert Village at the Polytechnic campus will see an increase of just 2 percent, or $150 per year.
Michael Coakley, the executive director of University Housing, said the discrepancies are based largely on costs incurred by renovation.
He cited the 12 percent annual increase in costs for residents the Center Complex as an example.
“The rates for Center Complex are higher than the average due to refurbishment of student rooms and public spaces that will be made this coming summer,” Coakley said in an e-mail.
Residents of the Polytechnic campus two- and three-bedroom group houses face the highest annual increases in dorm rates, around 13 to 15 percent annually, which Coakley attributed to higher utility costs and the addition of washing machines and dryers.
Students using anything but the basic or all-M&G dining plans will also see an increase in costs ranging from $60 to $227.
In addition, Coakley said, honors students will have to purchase plans for dining halls exclusive to the college.
“The dining program for Barrett is an integral part of the entire Barrett experience,” Coakley said.
The report submitted to ABOR said the hall would have “higher quality food” than other dining halls on campus.
Philosophy sophomore Sarah Atwill, who sits on the Hassayampa Residence Hall Council, said the process of increasing dorm and dining-plan rates needs to be more open and transparent. University officials had only minimal contact with students in the Residence Hall Association and none with the population at large, Atwill said.
“There needs to be campus-wide open forums on meal plans and housing, so we can hold, say, [food-services provider] Aramark responsible for the way they use our money,” she said.
Atwill also said she thinks hikes in student-living costs are only fair when students give input. Past increases have not helped fix problems, she said, citing broken laundry machines in Cholla Hall and a loose railing near rooms in Ocotillo Hall as examples.
“Every year, they come and ask for a 7 percent increase, and nothing ever changes,” Atwill said. “I’d only support an increase if the students were part of the discussion and got to say what they want their money going toward.”
Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.
