University continues on-campus living enhancements
University Park, Pa. - Penn State students who reside on campus are living better than ever before, thanks to extensive housing projects and renovations designed to provide modern amenities and safety features.
The University's Board of Trustees today (Nov. 19) received an update on housing and food services at Penn State, and approved a modest increase of less than 5 percent to Penn State's average room and board rates effective for the 2005-06 academic year at all nine of the University's residential campuses, including University Park.
The room and board schedule is part of the 2005-06 Housing and Food Services budget of $130.5 million authorized by the board. Housing and Food Services at Penn State are auxiliary enterprises, operating independent of tuition and state subsidies received by the University.
"The room and board rate proposal supports normal increases in annual operating expenses, and subsidizes an ongoing program of updating existing facilities with new amenities and safety features, such as sprinklers," said Thomas Gibson, associate vice president for auxiliary and business services. "Not only does Penn State operate one of the largest on-campus residence systems in higher education, it's one we're constantly working to improve. More and more, students are seeking the comforts of home and a greater choice of amenities, and we are actively trying to address that demand while keeping costs down."
Significant additions to housing facilities have greatly enhanced on-campus living options in the last year alone, with the Eastview Terrace undergraduate housing complex serving as a signature project in residential living. Located at the southeast corner of the University Park campus along College Avenue, the cluster of seven buildings added 811 single rooms with private baths, and was the first addition to undergraduate housing at University Park since the mid-1980s.
In addition, housing recently completed at Penn State Erie offers 151 additional spaces, while renovations at University Park improved 292 spaces in North Halls. Also at University Park, Redifer Dining Commons was expanded to accommodate Eastview Terrace residents and to provide a wide array of dining options for students not previously offered.
Major housing and dining facility renovations will continue during 2005-06. Projects will include renovations to Niagara and Lawrence Residence Halls and Dobbins Dining Hall at Penn State Erie, as well as renovations to Holmes Hall and Phase I of improvements to Graduate Circle Apartments at University Park. In addition, new housing will open at Penn State Harrisburg next spring, offering 32 new spaces.
On average, room charges for an undergraduate student living on-campus in a standard double room -- the most typical living arrangement at the University -- will increase by $90 per semester, from $1,625 to $1,715. The cost for meal plan three -- the most common plan of 12 to 13 meals per week -- will increase by $60 per semester, from $1,490 to $1,550.
These increases bring next year's average annual room and board cost to $6,530, an increase of 4.82 percent or $300 over the previous year. The room and board rate proposal encompasses the normal changes in annual operating expenses as well as the cost of life safety initiatives and the expense of renovations and upgrades to existing facilities.
Penn State's housing and food services already rank among the most affordable in the Big Ten, and are $750 to $1,200 less expensive annually than comparable on-campus residences at other state-related institutions in the state.
"Penn State is committed to cost-savings in all areas of the University, and our self-supporting housing and food service operations are a model for both quality and efficiency," said Gibson.
Penn State, with the largest residence hall system in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the nation, operates 74 undergraduate residence halls accommodating 16,585 students, and five apartment complexes with space for 1,832 individuals. These facilities provide more than 4 million square feet of living space. Undergraduate residence halls are located at University Park, Altoona, Beaver, Berks, Erie, Harrisburg, Hazleton, McKeesport and Mont Alto. Graduate housing is available at University Park, Erie, Harrisburg and Hershey.
Other housing rate changes specific to various campus living units include the following (all rates include utilities):
⢠Room rates for Nittany Apartments at University Park will increase by $105 to $125 per person, for a range of $1,965 to $2,415 a semester, depending on the type of apartment selected.
⢠Monthly rates for Graduate Circle Apartments will not change, and will continue to be offered at a range of $555 to $665 a month per unit, depending on the number of bedrooms and unit selected. Rates for the White Course graduate housing will increase by $25 to $30 a month, with one, two and three-bedroom family units costing $725, $830 and $935, respectively, while single graduate student housing will increase $30 to $545 a month per person for a four-bedroom apartment.
⢠At Penn State Erie, apartments will increase by $110 to a rate of $2,070 per person each semester for two-person garden units.
⢠At Penn State Harrisburg, four-bedroom apartments will increase $130 to a rate of $2,465 per person per semester.
⢠At the College of Medicine in Hershey, room rates for University Manor East Apartments will increase by $15 to $25 per month for a range of $690 to $909 a month per unit, depending on the number of bedrooms and included furnishings. Furnished four-bedroom apartments in University Manor West will increase by $52 a month to a rate of $1,612.