UC’s on-campus, affordable housing becoming a thing of the past

04.11.2019 - Investigative Reporting

By Madalyn Norman and Julia Lovell

When University of Cincinnati first-year students Carly Palmer, 19, and Sydney Keene, 18, signed up for fall 2018 housing, they were eager to experience dorm life on campus. But their excitement soon turned to dismay when they found out there was a shortage of housing on campus.

“We signed up [for housing] as soon as it opened,” Palmer told The News Record. “But by the time we were able to pick our dorm, the only double rooms left were in apartments.”

Keene and Palmer were required to live in an apartment affiliated with UC with a price tag almost $1,000 more than a traditional dorm and located more than a mile from campus.

“[Housing services] screwed us over,” Palmer told TNR. “They didn’t tell us we may not get a regular dorm.”

Keene and Palmer are not alone. UC requires the vast majority of first-year students to live in University housing but does not have enough beds on campus for them. As a result, many students are forced to live in more expensive off-campus affiliated housing.

“I feel like I paid more money just to have a lot of maintenance problems and be far from campus,” Palmer explained. “We didn’t even use the meal plan freshman are required to buy, because we had a full kitchen.”

Housing Services Director Carl Dieso says UC does not tell students where they must live but acknowledged that some, including first-years, may have no other option than to live in UC’s off-campus residencies because of increased demand.

Increased Demand for Housing

The University of Cincinnati has reported record-breaking enrollment for the past six years, prompting the addition of several campus housing complexes including Marian Spencer Hall. However, even with increased efforts to make room on campus, the University has struggled to satisfy the demand for on-campus housing.

In fact, UC records show the number of students living in University housing has risen at breakneck speed: from 3,883 students in 2012 to 6,593 in 2018—a 70 percent increase.

However, UC only had 6,184 beds available on campus in 2018, meaning the University could not offer on-campus housing to more than 400 students, according to Housing Services records. Officials provided off-campus UC affiliated apartments for those students. Some asked to live on these properties. Others, like Keene and Palmer, did not.

What UC calls affiliated, or block lease, housing actually comes from off-campus properties owned and managed by private companies. UC purchases a block of leases from these companies and then makes those rooms available for students to rent directly from the University.

Dieso said it costs more to live in these off-campus properties because of their amenities, such as more space and full kitchens, and that these properties diversify housing options for upperclassmen.

“When we determine we need to add capacity…we always try to see if there’s any way to offer and to encourage upperclassmen to select those spaces,” explained Dieso.

But as the number of students attending UC continues to grow, first-years have been forced to live in these off-campus apartments.

“Our goal is to meet the demand,” said Dieso. “We deliver housing a number of ways, we’ve got buildings we own, we have some that are affiliated with the institution, and we have the leases.”

However, Palmer was so dissatisfied with her living situation that she successfully petitioned the University to move out of UC’s off-campus housing. “My mom called and complained so many times that eventually I was able to move out,” said Palmer. “We’re now trying to get a refund.”

Dieso said UC housing has taken steps to improve communication and transparency with students, and they are working to make the transition easier for first-year students living in UC housing off campus.

Rising Cost

The University’s emphasis on apartment style housing shines light on a growing trend—UC offering increasing less affordable housing.

For decades the University was able to accommodate students through its traditional style dorms which include Calhoun, Siddall, Daniels, and Dabney. Rates for these traditional style dorms are considered UC’s lowest tier. During the 2018-19 school year, the cost of room and board for a first year in these dorms was between $11,340 and $12,380.

Starting in the early 21st century UC increased efforts to gain enrollment and, at the same time, more students began living on campus than ever before.

Between 2000, and 2010, UC launched an ambitious program to build new on-campus housing. To accommodate changing student needs and wants, officials decided to introduce suites and junior suites; a more modern style of housing with amenities that came at a higher cost. In the 2018-19 school year, room and board in this middle tier housing costed each first-year student between $12,356 and $13,320.

One project that drew attention was Campus Recreation Center Housing (CRC), which involved the addition of more than 200 suite-style apartments to the rec center complex. In 2012, The Fiscal Times included CRC on its list of "10 Public Colleges with Insanely Luxurious Dorms".

UC converted Morgens into student apartments in 2014 and again in 2016 with Scioto, establishing some of UC’s most expensive on-campus housing to date. An apartment here costs each first-year student between $13,236 and $13,758 for room and board in 2018-19— about 17 percent more than a room offered in traditional dorms like Calhoun or Siddall.

With space running out on campus, Dieso says his priority is to increase student housing options by expanding block-lease agreements with local apartment properties, according to a recent TNR article.

The University has entered agreements to lease some apartment complexes in their entirety for the 2019-20 school year, TNR reported.

Housing officials are available to meet with students and their families to discuss what would work best for them, according to Dieso.

That may be difficult when an estimated 7,000 students are expected to live in University housing for the 2019-20 school year, according to Housing Services, and some believe the lack of affordable housing on campus will only get worse.

Regardless, the operation and maintenance of all UC housing may soon undergo a dramatic change.

Change on the Horizon

UC is looking to enter a long term partnership with a private company for “the operations and maintenance of UC’s undergraduate student housing,” according to a recent request for qualifications published by the University in December 2018.

The document also states the potential partner would “be responsible for meeting excess demand for on-campus housing that is currently satisfied through block leasing program.”

Five companies have submitted their qualifications, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier. University spokesperson M.B. Reilly told the Courier UC plans to publish a request for proposals as its next step.

In the meantime, students can expect to pay more for housing next fall. Housing and Food Services have asked the UC Board of Trustees to increase 2019-20 room and board rates by approximately 3 percent.

Dieso said rates have increased by about 2-3 percent annually over the past four years in order to cover current and future operational costs.