The Shaft | Jun. 20 9:05 am EST
THE RENT

Find out why your housing rate went up

When they weren’t busy approving a permanent dean for Columbia College earlier this month, the board of trustees made at least one decision that directly affects all undergraduates—housing costs for next year are going up. As you probably found out via email, the price of your Columbia dorm increased somewhere between $48 and $62 (or, as the email from housing put it, “approximately $25 to $35 per term”), relative to the estimate you received when you signed your occupancy agreement.

If you run the numbers, that translates to an overall revenue increase of about $299,000 for the University. (Disclaimer: A bunch of estimates went into that calculation, among them that every room is filled and that RAs are paying for housing. Also, it’s pretty much impossible to figure out how many first-years will be living in Hartley, Wallach, and Furnald, and the cost hikes are slightly different for first-years than for upperclassmen. Still, the number is in the right ballpark).

Wondering what the University plans to do with the additional funds? We asked Vice President of Student and Administrative Services Scott Wright, who told us that the increase will help fund an “aggressive project plan” for summer dorm renovations. Check after the jump to find out if your dorm is getting renovated, and to see the new and old costs for every dorm.

According to Wright, the following facilities are being renovated this summer:

  • East Campus entrance (yes, this is actually happening now)
  • East Campus, 6th floor
  • Wallach, floors 6-10
  • Schapiro, floors 6-10
  • John Jay floor lounges
  • Furnald floor lounges
  • Wien lounge
  • Carman lounge (we kind of already knew about this one too)

And here’s the breakdown of the cost increases over the whole academic year:

  • First-year dorms (Carman/John Jay/Furnald/Hartley/Wallach): $50 ($6720 to $6770)
  • Corridor buildings (Broadway/Furnald/McBain/Schapiro/Wien): $48 ($6926 to $6974)
  • Large suites (Nussbaum/Harmony/Hartley/River/Wallach): $54 ($7724 to $7778)
  • Small suites (Claremont/Symposium/Brownstones/East Campus/Hogan/Ruggles/Apartments/Watt/Woodbridge): $62 ($8580 to $8642)

COMMENTS (5)

  1. dqueezy • June 21, 2012 at 9:45 am • Reply

    yeah but seriously this was ridiculous.

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  2. Anonymous • June 21, 2012 at 12:54 pm • Reply

    Rate went up and the building I’m in isn’t getting renovated? Fuck you, Columbia.

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    Rating: +1 (from 5 votes)
  3. Anonymous • June 26, 2012 at 1:00 pm • Reply

    You can’t use the phrase “affects all undergraduates” unless that’s true. General Studies students are in fact part of the undergraduate community but have different residential arrangements – either private housing or a variety of options from University Apartment Housing (UAH). As they face significant challenges within the UAH and NYC residential community, it would be prudent to separate housing issues and report on them with equal treatment.

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  4. neverintime • June 28, 2012 at 10:56 am • Reply

    i hate this fucking school

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  5. Jones sabo intended to get promotion person announcements • April 13, 2013 at 7:34 am • Reply

    Its great as your other content : D, appreciate it for putting up. “I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it’s not a waste of time.” by Martha Stewart. Jones sabo intended to get promotion person announcements http://www.hyatuha.net/vb/showthread.php?p=1257028#post1257028

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