Just when housing rates in the University District are already rapidly accelerating, the University of Washington (uw) is planning another series of construction projects and rent hikes for student dormitories.
McCarty and Haggett halls are on the chopping block for demolition and will be rebuilt, while McMahon Hall will undergo renovation. These three dorms are the least expensive options currently available to students.
A double in one of these older halls currently costs about $5,781 per academic year, while a double in the new halls on West Campus goes for $8,628. That’s a difference of about $320 a month — a rent increase of almost 50 percent.
And apartment rates in the University District aren’t cutting students any slack either with the average one-bedroom currently going for about $1,200 a month. This is about a 9 percent increase from last year, according to figures released by Dupre + Scott, an apartment research firm.
Both the rising apartment rents and the uw’s plans for new dormitories are aimed at students coming from families with disposable income, contributing to a system that works to keep low-income students from being able to afford both tuition and housing.
The dormitory construction project is scheduled to take place over five years and won’t start until 2016, but if the uw wishes to remain a competitive public institution, the uw Board of Regents needs to find a way to keep student housing rates from growing too quickly.
The uw’s current plan to rebuild dorms and raise prices assumes that glitzy housing amenities are more important to students than affordability. The university’s average housing rates are above the nation’s average, according to a quick survey by uw Board of Regents member Pat Shanahan. A senior vice president at Boeing, Shanahan questioned whether this was the best course of action for the university in the long run.
Emily Nguyen is a freshman at uw who was unable to find affordable housing close enough to school. “It just seems like the housing system isn’t really designed to accommodate students that work their way through college” she wrote in an email. Now, every day, she commutes from her parent’s home in Mukilteo to uw, a bus ride that can take up to two hours in heavy traffic.
The U-District has seen a recent development boom, and it is anticipating high student demand. Only about 18 percent of students attending the Seattle campus live in university-owned residence halls, meaning there’s a substantial market for students looking to live close to the school if commuting isn’t a viable option.
Many students end up searching for communal living situations near campus, usually paying about $600 to $800 a month for a room in a shared house. But the most affordable options are claimed quickly because the pickings are slim.
Christina Xiao, the president of the Associated Students of the University of Washington (asuw), said that she’s been hearing concerns from students who fear that they won’t be able to live on campus if the cheapest options are demolished or upgraded.
“asuw is urging the board of regents to find ways to cut costs for the new residential hall plans,” Xiao wrote in an email, “because affordable housing is important for ensuring that uw remains accessible to people from different economic backgrounds.”
All three halls slated for change were built in the 1960s and are overdue for renovation, according to Pam Schreiber, uw’s Director of Housing and Food Services. These halls are currently over their original capacity design because the university has squeezed extra beds into many single and double rooms, bringing the residential-hall population to almost 800 students beyond the original limit.
The new dorms will add 350 beds to those already on campus, but if these beds aren’t accessible to low-income students then the uw will have ignored its duty to ensure accessibility for students no matter their socioeconomic status.