With exams over and the semester finally at an end, it is time for NC State students to begin their winter break worry free. The only problem is that for some students, winter break comes with many worries because their place of residence is closed for almost a month.
NC State contains an international student population of about 4,800. With such a large number of students living outside of the U.S., it is not feasible to expect all of them to return home over winter break. Many of these students must have no choice but to remain in the U.S., some of whom rely on University Housing.
As housing policy currently stands, students can live in select residence halls for the winter break, but the financial stipulation surrounding the policy is outrageous. Over the break, University Housing opens three residence halls: Wolf Ridge, E.S. King Village and Avent Ferry Complex. The cost to stay in those dorms over the break is $30 per night, $40 per night (or $30 per night for a studio apartment), and $32.50 per night respectively.
The costs of these quickly rack up because of the nightly rate that is charged. Residents must officially move out on Dec. 17, and the residence halls do not open up again until Jan. 4. Students who are not able to travel home for winter break would have to pay a minimum of $570 dollars to remain on campus for the 19 days between the halls closing and opening.
Demanding that these students pay $570 for nearly half a month worth of time in the dorm would possibly be justifiable if the University had to maintain its regular amenities; however, this is not the case as almost everything else on campus will be closed. Not only do these students have to front this money to remain on campus, but they would also have to make external payments for food assuming that they sustain on a meal plan during the year.
The price seems even more baffling when compared to other public schools in North Carolina with comparable amounts of international students, like UNC, which charges $220 to live in on-campus housing over the break. The cost is significantly lower for roughly the same amount of time to live on campus during the break.
This is not to say that the University should open up its facilities for students who are remaining on campus. That would be unfair to the employees as they would like to go home for the holidays too, and it would also be very cost inefficient. The University should, however, make an effort to lower the cost of staying in the dorms. If a student isn’t going home for break, it is very likely that there may be financial hurdles stopping them from doing so. Imposing a $570+ charge on these students could create an entire batch of problems for them.
There should be a system in place that allows students to maintain their spots in housing without such a high fee that is installed on them. In this time when students are supposed to enjoy themselves free of any academic stress, it would seem unnecessarily harsh to impose some students with the burden of having to pay this much just to have a home over the holiday break.
