New Eastview Terrace complex to open next fall
University Park, Pa. -- Penn State expects to complete one of its most significant upgrades to housing facilities in recent years by fall 2004 -- and will do so at a minimal cost increase to the more than 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students who choose to take advantage of on-campus living options.
The University's Board of Trustees today (Nov. 14) approved a modest increase of less than 5 percent to Penn State's average room and board rates effective for the 2004-05 academic year at all nine of the University's residential campuses, including University Park.
The room and board schedule is part of the 2004-05 Housing and Food Services budget of $124.6 million authorized by the board. Housing and Food Services at Penn State are an auxiliary enterprise, operating independent of tuition and state appropriation received by the University.
"The budget addresses a number of significant enhancements to current operations," said Thomas Gibson, associate vice president for Auxiliary and Business Services. "The room and board rate proposal encompasses the normal changes in annual operating expenses as well as the cost of opening two new facilities and the expense of renovations and upgrades to existing facilities."
The centerpiece of residential enhancements to come online next fall is the Eastview Terrace undergraduate housing complex. Located at the southeast corner of the University Park campus along College Avenue, the cluster of seven buildings will provide 811 single rooms with private baths, and is the first addition to undergraduate housing at University Park since the mid-1980s.
In addition, new housing at Penn State Erie will offer 151 additional spaces, while renovations at University Park will improve 292 spaces in North Halls. Redifer Dining Commons in South Halls also is being expanded to accommodate the new students residing in the adjacent Eastview Terrace complex.
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 $85 per semester, from $1,540 to $1,625. The cost for meal plan three -- the most common plan of 12 to 13 meals per week -- will increase by $60 per semester, from $1,430 to $1,490.
These increases bring next year's average annual room and board cost to $6,230, an increase of 4.88 percent or $290 over the previous year. A large portion of this new revenue will go toward a $50 million life safety initiative that will install sprinklers and related code improvements in all Penn State residential units by 2010. Remaining funds will subsidize annual debt service, facilities renewal, deferred maintenance and the in-lieu-of tax agreement with State College Area School District.
The approved increase is the smallest at the University in four years. Penn State's housing and food services already rank among the most affordable in the Big Ten, and are $900 to $1,200 less expensive annually than comparable on-campus residences at other state-related institutions in the commonwealth.
"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. "The impressive new Eastview Terrace complex and other exciting renovations and modernizations to residential facilities keep us within reach of our perpetual goal to provide a high-quality living environment at an affordable price for all students."
Penn State, with the largest residence hall system in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the nation, will operate 74 undergraduate residence halls by fall 2004 accommodating 16,675 students, and five apartment complexes with space for 1,856 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 $95 to $120 per person, for a range of $1,860 to $2,290 a semester, depending on the type of apartment selected.
⢠Monthly rates for Graduate Circle Apartments will increase by $15 to $20 for 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 $700, $800 and $905, respectively, while single graduate student housing will increase $25 to $515 a month per person for a four-bedroom apartment.
⢠At Penn State Erie, apartments will increase by $100 to a rate of $1,960 per person each semester for two-person garden units.
⢠At Penn State Harrisburg, four-bedroom apartments will increase $120 to a rate of $2,335 per person per semester.
⢠At the College of Medicine in Hershey, room rates for University Manor East Apartments will increase by $25 to $30 per month for a range of $675 to $884 a month per unit, depending on the number of bedrooms and included furnishings. Furnished four-bedroom apartments in University Manor West will increase by $64 a month to a rate of $1,560.