Rachel Campbell
Multimedia Editor
On campus housing is an advantage that not every community college provides. Neosho Daily News states that the Roughrider Village Apartments were built in 2008 and purchased by Crowder in 2014. Crowder soon started renovations on the space to add another 200 beds in additions to the Brown dorms which opened in 2009.
In Crowder’s Board of Trustees meeting, it was proposed that all room and board prices for 2021-2022 be increased by five percent for single occupancy rooms and three percent for double occupancy rooms, including a three percent increase at Brown as well. With room and board, meal plan rates are also being raised three percent.
Over the past few years, campus housing prices have been slowly increasing. In Fall 2019, a Brown dorm one bedroom and double occupancy was $2,827 per semester. At Roughrider Village per semester, a one-bedroom apartment with one roommate is $2,455, a one-bedroom apartment with no roommate for $3,752, a two-bedroom apartment with two students in each room, $2,187 and a two-bedroom apartment with two students in an individual room each for $3,314.
The new price for Brown will be $2,970 per semester for a one Bedroom with double occupancy includes an “all access” meal plan. The Roughrider Village new prices will be, $2,580 for a one-bedroom apartment with one roommate, $4,020 for a one-bedroom apartment with no roommate, $2,300 for a two-bedroom apartment with two students in each room, and $3,550 for a two-bedroom apartment with two students in an individual room and individual room.
Mark Aubuchon who has been the Director of Campus life since 2009 and explains the price increase, “We always try to keep any increases low, but we do need to pay for increases to electric, water trash collection, WIFI and TV satellite. However, we have had a consistent number of students who move in for the Fall and Spring semester and the rise in prices hasn’t affected enrollment in housing.
Outside of Crowders Campus, in Neosho there are other apartments or houses that students could rent instead. However, these other places don’t usually lease for shorter than a year which isn’t all great for students because if they’re from out of town they may prefer to go home for the summer. On Apartments.com, prices are generally about the same or lower than campus housing cost. When living off campus, any money students receive through Crowder such as: FAFSA, Pell Grants, or scholarships, doesn’t go towards paying rent like it would with on campus housing, it will be out of pocket instead.
Many students do choose to live on campus over in town, like Savannah Raney who says, “I decided to live on campus it is more convenient and so that I can become more independent and to be a part of the community. I was discouraged at first about the cost of the apartments, but luckily my FAFSA covered a good amount. I live in a one-bedroom apartment, I was supposed to have a roommate but ended up not having one. I tried to look at other options in Neosho, but there aren’t very many places to rent in this area that are worth it.”
With the rising prices, Lori Kelley is assistant Director of Campus Life says, “we do try to keep the housing standards upgraded. This past summer, RRV hard-wired their Wi-Fi to fix the outages we were having. This was a significant upgrade, and we will continue to operate upgrades as needed.”
All these changes for upgrading the on-campus housing are completely necessary. The increase of three and five percent isn’t much compared to the very slim options of living off campus in Neosho. That choice doesn’t seem suitable for students and living on campus gives on inside look of everything happening on campus letting students have the full experience of college.
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