For many Hornets, moving back on campus may be more affordable than renting off campus. On-campus room and meal plan rates will be changing for the 2022-2023 school year. As opposed to previous years, housing rates will be divided by freshmen and upperclassmen. While all fees are going down, rates for upperclassmen will be lower than rates for freshmen.
Cass Coughlin, director of Residential Life, stated that Residential Life is lowering the housing fees to help remedy the lack of financial assistance students receive after their first year.
“One of the things we’ve heard from students is they come in as first year freshmen and have some additional (financial) assistance and their sophomore year they see a dip in the assistance they get,” Coughlin said.
This change in room and meal plan rates came from a proposal approved in a December 2021 meeting from the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR). In the report minutes from December 15-16, 2021, KBOR stated that this new structure of housing and meal rates is, “expected to have significant and positive impact on occupancy.”
Abbygail Rowden, senior business administration major, has been living in the dorms since 2019. Rowden says that she loves living on campus because she doesn’t have any bills to pay, doesn’t have to clean any bathrooms and it is a great way to be more involved in campus life.
“I think Residential Life is doing a great job understanding the financial differences between freshmen and upperclassmen,” Rowden said. “Students move off-campus because it’s generally cheaper, but on campus you’re closer to more.”
As a student ambassador, Rowden advocates for on-campus life, however, she does have a few dislikes of living in the residential halls such as a no pet policy without accommodations and restriction of some kitchen appliances such as hot plates in student’s rooms.
According to Coughlin, the increase for freshmen housing will be less than 2%. Coughlin says that any funds students pay on campus go directly back into campus housing.
“We operate like a non-profit. We don’t have investors or pay off dividends,” Coughlin said. “In all the funds that students pay on campus, all of those funds go back into campus housing. They pay for our maintenance and custodial staff, electricity, natural gas, water, internet service, construction, and renovations.”
Currently, the price for a single semester in a single room in Abigail Morse Hall is $3,450. Starting next semester, freshmen would pay $3,500 per semester and upperclassmen would pay $3,000 per semester for the same room. In the Towers, Singular, and Trusler, prices of a double room come down from $2,700 per semester to $2,225 for upperclassmen, and go up to $2,750 per semester for freshmen.
Katey Eichorn, who will be a freshman health and human performance major starting next semester, thinks the rate changes are understandable.
“I think it makes sense. I don’t think it’s a bad thing since you do get more money coming in as a freshman than you do if you’re an upperclassman,” Eichorn said.
Director of Financial Aid, Jaime Morris, encourages students struggling to afford housing costs to apply for scholarships using the new scholarship portal on Hornet365.
“This is our first full year using this new online tool for students to apply for scholarships. We’re trying to get the word out for students to visit the portal frequently.”
The portal matches students with scholarships that fit them best based on their major, background, and other personal information by filling out a general application. Once the general application is received, students should check back every few weeks to see if they have any matches for eligible scholarships.
Morris says a significant portion of students rely on federal aid to help with finances for things like housing.
Students can learn more about scholarships by visiting emporia.edu/scholarships. To view all housing rate changes for the upcoming academic year, visit emporia.edu/reslife.
