With 5,758 undergraduate students currently on campus, the need for affordable, modern campus housing has substantially increased. Many 3rd and 4th year students in the past have relied on applying for scarce spaces in old student apartments on South York Street and South Gaylord Street. However, those who are not accepted to use this cheap alternative cannot utilize financial aid to pay for their room and board expenses, and are forced to find more expensive apartments or houses in the DU area. Therefore, DU’s acquisition of leasing rights for University Lofts and construction on South University Boulevard for new student housing are steps in the right direction to ensure students have access to better housing alternatives after their two-year housing obligation is fulfilled.
In 2014, rent for an apartment or house in Denver County cost on average of $4,012 per quarter. More specifically, rent is $800 for a one bedroom, $992 for a two bedroom, $1,317 for a three bedroom, $1,640 for a four bedroom and $1,939 for a five bedroom. Not including costs for food, furniture and other necessities, living in an off-campus apartment can become quite an expensive proposition. However, living in an on-campus apartment significantly reduces this financial burden. Since on-campus apartments are cheaper than this average (around $2,000-$3,000 per quarter), and students can use their financial aid awards and refunds from excess financial aid to pay for costs of living, DU must invest in more on-campus living for juniors and seniors, so all students in economic need can live in affordable housing.
With the recent acquisition of leasing rights for University Lofts and future construction on South University Boulevard, DU has begun to expand student access to housing options in housing that are modern, high quality and affordable. Students are rapidly applying for these apartment spaces, so DU should seek to expand this initiative and continue to offer an increasing amount of low cost, yet refined housing to students.
Partnering with Vista and Asbury Green apartments would be a promising start to expanding this opportunity to students and ensure students don’t leave the university with crippling debt and under financial strain. In addition, investing in building new university apartments would help fulfill the increasing demand for student housing. Lastly, the university should strive to bring old campus apartments into the 21st century, by conducting a complete make-over, starting from improving the laundry facilities within each apartment building to redesigning the furnishing of apartments. This can be achieved through utilizing a small fraction of funds from the university’s growing endowment, which reached $467 million after the ASCEND campaign ended in 2014.
DU has taken a huge step forward in seeking to improve student life around campus, through opening up a cheap housing alternative for students in University Lofts. This initiative must continue to grow and, in the future, be able to accommodate all students who wish to opt for on-campus apartment living. Our campus strives to be a leader in higher education. One way it can continue to do so is through continue to improve its housing facilities for the 21st century.
