Everyone knows there is a difference between the Carrollton tower and the Biever public shower, but deciding whether to live on or off campus is an even bigger problem for many students.
For students who have spent two years at Loyola or have attainted junior standing, living off campus becomes an option. Living off campus may offer big savings for students, but there are trade-offs.
Daniel Quick, history sophomore, has lived on campus for two years and plans to move off campus next semester. “As far as I know, it’s cheaper to live off campus than it is to live on campus.”
Greg Edson, a media representative from online student marketplace and housing service Uloop.com, said that there are many benefits to living off campus.
“It’s generally cheaper than on-campus living, and you often get more living space,” Edson said.
Edson also noted that students generally get more privacy, live by fewer rules and regulations while living off campus, and usually have more parking spaces available to them.
Quick said that the freedom is a major part of why he wants to move off campus. “It’ll be nice to live like I’ve got complete say over what I want to do,” Quick said. “No one’s going to bother me on my own turf.”
However, Quick said that distance from campus could be a problem for him.
“I wouldn’t be willing to move much farther than 10 minutes,” Quick said. “That’s 10 minutes by bike or by foot.”
Director of Residential Life Craig Beebe said, “The cost (of living on campus) seems high, but that includes all of your electricity, your water, your cable, your phone service if you want to hook up your phone in your room, your wireless Internet and your security in the building.”
Students living on campus also get access to Tulane Emergency Medical Service in case of a medical emergency.
“The emergency medical service that students may not realize is something we have to pay for,” Beebe said.
Beebe said that the money is also spent on maintenance, service contracts to have the furniture and carpets cleaned, exterminators, and resident assistant training.
“Some of the money of course goes to salaries,” Beebe said. “We have six professional staff members in the department. In any business, salaries are going to be your biggest expense usually. So a lot of the funds go there.”
According to Beebe there are also intangible benefits to living on campus, such as the programming and the community.
“A lot of students wouldn’t say that living on campus was the reason they stayed at Loyola,” Beebe said. “They would say that it was the people they know and getting involved, and we just know that it’s sort of an A equals B and B equals C sort of equation.”
Michael Kammer, a physics junior, plans to spend his last year living on campus.
“Being able to wake up three minutes before class is wonderful,” Kammer said.
Beebe said that the retention rates and grades for students who live on campus are statistically higher than for those who choose to live off campus.
“They just tend to be a lot more involved with programs and events and leadership opportunities when they live on campus,” Beebe said. “And at the end of the day, that engagement is really what we find makes a difference for students.”
Loyola’s policy of keeping students on campus for their first two years of college has played an important role in raising retention and student satisfaction, according to Beebe.
“Thankfully, by the time a student’s a junior and moves off campus they’ve had lots of times to get involved in things and make lots of friends,” Beebe said. “So generally speaking, retention rates of juniors and seniors are very high.”
Though it may be cheaper to live off campus in most instances, Beebe believes that the benefits of living on campus make it a greater value for students.
“You can’t really quantify that from a dollar perspective,” Beebe said.
Loyola requires its students to have a meal plan if they are living on campus. For the first two years of residency, students must have a weekly meal plan, but after that they can take block meals or wolf buck only plans.
By living off campus, students are estimated to save about $1,132 a year on housing and $1,376 a year on food, but spend an estimated $2,781 on gas and car maintenance.
In total, students save an estimated $1,727 a year by living off campus, if they are comparing it to the Carrollton Hall apartments, which cost $8,412 per year, to live in a three bedroom apartment, and the 12 meal a week meal plan costs $3,924 per year.
Beebe recognizes the benefits of living off campus as well as living on campus.
“I was always excited as a student to move off campus for the summers. I always lived on campus for the year. There’s kind of a feeling of freedom when you live off campus,” Beebe said. “But the trade-off to that, and it’s a real trade-off, is when you live off campus you’re naturally a little bit more disconnected from campus life.”
Sam Winstrom can be reached at
