RE: “Housing implements $100 fee for residence applicants,” March 6-13.
Many students were disgruntled when Carleton’s housing department introduced a new fee last week which will charge students $100 to apply to live in residence. While it is true residence is expensive and no one wants to pay more fees, the new fee is fair and will ultimately benefit students.
Laura Storey, housing director, told the Charlatan the application fee was implemented to prevent long residence wait lists. Once you get past the fact that you already might think you pay too much to live in residence, this is a completely reasonable solution to a valid problem.
The large benefit to students who would have previously been wait listed will far outweigh the small consequence of each student paying the fee. Paying $100 up front will prevent students who may back out later from applying, which will reduce wait lists.
Being on the wait list is stressful and inconvenient, especially for first-year students from out-of-area who take up the biggest space in residence. Many will delay signing a lease off-campus, making it harder to find a good place to live when it comes to crunch time, and some won’t know anyone else coming to the school in need of a roommate.
Even with the fee, some will still be in this circumstance because of the unfortunate fact that Carleton can’t annually renovate their residences to fit the exact number of people who apply to residence each year. The fee won’t eradicate this problem, but it’s the easiest way to make it better.
Storey said 400 students backed out or cancelled their application last year. That’s 400 other students who could have avoided the anxiety of not knowing where they’d be living the following year.
Ultimately, students who can’t scrounge together a $100 application fee a few months to a year before starting or during their degree likely won’t afford tuition, or the rest of housing fees either. So while the cost and accessibility of university is another debate altogether, this fee won’t realistically prevent someone who’s serious about coming to Carleton from doing so.
A student quoted in the Charlatan’s coverage of the fee implementation said housing needs to earn their business, not the other way around. Unfortunately, you have to buy a ticket before going to see a concert.
