Rates for campus housing increase

Martha Cook Residence Hall. Photo by Bill Wood, U-M Photo Services

The Regents approved average rate increases of 5 percent for residence halls and Family Housing apartments at their April 12 meeting. These rate recommendations for the 2001–02 academic year were determined after significant discussion with student rate committees as well as administrative staff.

The basic rate for a double room with a standard 13 meals-per-week board plan will be $6,068, an increase of $288 from this year’s rates. A single room in a traditional hall with a board plan will cost $7,222. A double in halls without board plans will cost $3,478–$4,838.

Effective July 1, rates for unfurnished Family Housing apartments and town houses will range from $399 (now $380) for a room in Observatory Lodge to $930 (now $886) for a three-bedroom town house unit.

Projected higher utility costs represent the largest single factor other than general inflation affecting the size of the rate increases. Room rates for residence halls and Family Housing apartments and town houses include all utilities except long-distance telephone service.

Although the U-M’s room and board rates remain the second highest in the Big Ten after Northwestern University, its cumulative percentage increases for the years 1997–2000 were the lowest of the 11 schools. This was achieved despite inflation rates for southeastern Michigan that have been above the national average during the same time frame.

During this period, University Housing sustained or enhanced its services and programs with a combination of budget restructuring and cost-cutting initiatives. Enhancements included the addition of new living-learning programs, elimination of permanent overflow triples after three decades, and the major renovation of the South Quadrangle fire alarm and electric systems. The 2001–02 rate increase for residence halls also will support the financing of a new state-of-the-art fire alarm and electrical system for East Quadrangle.