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Last updated on Tuesday, February 9, 2016
(BLOOMINGTON) - Students at Indiana University are likely to pay a little more for housing next school year.
A request to approve residence hall rates at Indiana University's Bloomington, Indianapolis, South Bend and southeast campuses passed unanimously in committee and will now go before the board of trustees for approval.
For the Bloomington campus, the request before the board of trustees' finance, audit and strategic planning committee was a weighted average rate increase for room and board of 2.6 percent. MaryFrances McCourt, IU chief financial officer, said that would equate to an average increase of about $245 per year.
What students actually pay will depend on their specific housing accommodations and meal plans, said IU spokesman Mark Land.
IU's Residential Programs and Services Office asked that meal plans at all levels increase by $50, which translates to an increase of between 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent, McCourt said.
The requested increase for room and board for the Bloomington campus is based on several factors, such as an expected 2 percent increase in salaries, utilities, repairs and maintenance. Another reason for the increase is to help with funding for the Wells Quad project that will return several administrative buildings on the south side of campus back to residential use.
The Wells Quad project is estimated to cost about $30 million. It will create almost 200 new beds and a dining hall facility expected to open in fall 2017.
McCourt presented the committee with a market analysis of the Bloomington area comparing residence hall rates with popular off-campus housing options. Rates for a one-bedroom residence hall unit ranged from $654 to $859 per month, according to the presentation. The cheapest one-bedroom, off-campus housing option in the presentation was Tower Park/Virgo Properties at just less than $600, while the most expensive was the Tenth and College Village, which ranged from about $1,100 to $1,200.
The presentation also showed room and board rates on the Bloomington campus ranking toward the bottom of the Big Ten Conference. For the 2015-16 school year, IU Bloomington's most prevalent room and board rate was about $9,800. That was about 10 percent more expensive than the University of Minnesota, which had the lowest rates in the conference, according to the presentation, and about half as much as the rates at Northwestern University, which was the most expensive in the conference.
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis had the highest weighted average rate increase request at 3 percent. IU South Bend had the smallest weighted average rate increase request at 1 percent, while IU Southeast requested a 1.73 percent increase.
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