In order to live on campus, students must fill out a Housing Contract by the beginning of May. If one, for any reason, needed to cancel their housing contract over the summer they would have to pay half the housing tuition for the fall and spring semester. This is completely ridiculous.

I, as well as many other students, didn’t fill out a housing contract until late May, weeks past the deadline of May 1.

Circumstances change quite rapidly beyond our control during the summer. Financial aid gets cut, housing situations change, etc, but if we aren’t able to predict the future of where we will be in the next three months, we are forced to put up with fees that we can’t necessarily afford.

This guarantees university housing as a money pit.

The University needs to look at this policy and evolve. Having students sign housing contracts closer to the school year seems to be the greatest solution.

Students are more likely to have insight on their situation in July than they would at the beginning of May. I understand that this would make the housing worker’s jobs much harder, but it would save the students thousands of dollars.

Another solution to this problem would be to change the “consequences” of canceling housing contracts.

Currently, the consequences of canceling housing require one to pay half of the rent for the apartment for two semesters. It could just as easily be that the housing department would keep your deposit. It allows consequence without taking unnecessary money out of student’s pockets.

University housing needs to understand that they are working with broke college students, not Dr. Warbucks.

If you can’t afford to pay the high housing rates, how would you be able to afford cheaper rent AND half of your dorm?

The university gets our money in hundreds of different ways. We pay tuition. We buy books. We pay multiple fees to even be on campus. Why should we be charged more to try and save money? These changes would not be hard to implement and the University can indeed function without charging students these ridiculously high fees.

I strongly suggest that the University change and evolve their housing contract cancellation policies.  It wouldn’t be hard and the University is able to stand without that funding.