DORM COSTS MAY RISE AT USF

[Apis Bull]

That is one way to beat the laws of supply and demand  ;D

Not really, you just inflate the demand by making it a requirement.

[smazza]

in 74 dorm room and foodwas a great deal

and the girls lived on the same floor

heaven on earth

[AndytheBull]

I think it would have to be something like that. I dont see how you can make somebody who lives in Brandon to spend the money to live on campus.

[crambone]

I lived on campus for all of 6 weeks and it sucked.  Even Campus Walk was better.

Then again, that was back in 2000.

[BULLheaded]

that would be tougher to do in a city environment where you want commuters to attend.

At Kent the there was a radius that any freshman or sophmores attending school and living outside that radius had to live on campus. Everyone complains about USF being a commuter school and I'm sure it would be a bit more difficult in a city environment but if we want things to be more "traditional" then the "traditional" rules should apply.

As far as costs go, if students must live on campus then that will bring in more revenue to add more housing, in addition that takes away from the effectiveness of the appartments undercutting the school. After all the result of this increase will probably be that off campus housing will rise as well but just enough to continue to undercut usf. So I guess what I'm saying is that USF won't win a price war, if you want students on campus you'll have to force them there.

Oh, and I think the last part of your comment really hits the root of it. Do we really want commuters that badly if so then we should just not worry about it and accept that we are in fact a commuter school. I'm basing my comments on the assumption that we are now at a point (with 40,000+ students) that we no longer care to be a commuter school and would like to be more traditional and in that case we should focus more on what it takes to reach that goal.

[BULLheaded]

I lived on campus for all of 6 weeks and it sucked.  Even Campus Walk was better.

Then again, that was back in 2000.

Living on campus ALWAYS has sucked.....it isn't until fairly recently that dorms are becoming pleasant. My dorm (not at USF) was a cinderblock hole in the wall with my bed on one side and my roomates on the other...bathrooms were a shared deal for the entire floor like an ancient YMCA. Hence part of the reason you have to force students to live there.

In the end though, that is part of what creates the college environment...same argument as many use for an OCS.

[MikeG]

what about students who not of traditional age-- something USF is well known for attracting-- how do you force a thirty something plus year old to live with the youngins'?

[Bobcat99]

I don't think USF can shed being a commuter school without some vast changes in campus culture. The fact that so many of our students are nontraditional in nature is the primary aspect of this -- compared to a residential campus like Ohio, Kansas, Penn State, Notre Dame, or Duke, nearly everything about attending college here is different. The entire act of being a college student is different at a UC or USF or the like.

If they want to go in that direction, I applaud them, but it will necessitate a great increase in tuition and other charges to handle the growth of on-campus students. I do, however, wonder why we have to have such nice dorms. I guess that's part of the demand curve? The kids have it amazingly luxurious here compared to anywhere else I've taught (residential campuses)...

[AndytheBull]

I HATE THE TERM COMMUTER SCHOOL! I have lived in Brandon since I was one, I still live at home and drive 20-25 minutes to campus everyday. I obviously care about USF, and its something about this area that it is large, you are going to have a lot of local students, and a lot of the non traditional students. What is a "traditional" student anyway? Would USF no longer accept someone over the age of 30? I dont want to go in that direction if its what that means. That being said, most people from outside the Tampa area live on campus their first year, and get an offcampus apartment the rest of their time here. And there are also a lot of people from this area that do live on campus and move to the off campus apartments. Sorry for the rant, but thats always something that bothers me when some TV personality uses the term "commuter school" as a negative.  

[kdawgy_orlando]

To require freshman to live on campus would be insane. Do we even have enough dorm rooms for them?

It only seems insane, that is why other schools make it mandatory. Seriously, first year on campus would not be a bad idea.

I lived in Beta in my first year, after that experience I appreciated living off campus that much more.  Plus I had eaten enough gumby's pizza to shave a few years off my life.