By: Switch

Switch
Wed, 24 Jun 2015 13:27:20 +0000

Late to the response, but very relevant to me, as I have three children in college (one at Ohio State). Let's start with this ... The housing at Ohio State was the worst dorm housing we have encountered at almost any school. Our teenage son lived in an outdated cinder-block "quad" that was the size of two large walk-in closets. The meal plan was more expensive than anywhere else because of the "block" system. And the room & board were the same as, or more expensive, than the other two. Second point ... Ohio State just passed a rule, which will now require both freshman AND sophomores to live in on-campus housing and dorms. In other words, they are voting to hike rates 6% per year, and then forcing students to live in their housing for an extra year (most non-freshman live in off-campus housing because it is less expensive, especially when it comes to buying food vs. "meal plans." Final point ... I feel OSU tuition is reasonable and, candidly, I have far less of a problem if OSU regularly increases tuition comparable to the cost of inflation (2-3% per year). But housing should NOT be a profit center for OSU ... i.e., pricing should reflect the real estate market, and OSU should not exploit the fact that it can force students to be renters. OSU did not reduce its housing to reflect the drop in the real estate marketing in 2008-12, and housing in Ohio is not expected to appreciate 6% every year over the next ten years. This is a poorly thought out scheme to gauge students (or more likely, the parents) for extra cash or capital improvements.