Last July, students were scrambling to find on-campus housing. This July, Housing and Residential Life is scrambling to find students.
In the past, on-campus housing had wait lists of more than 2,000 students, but due to the troubling economy, an increase in room and board, and fewer students admitted to Cal State Long Beach, Housing and Residential Life has more rooms available than they had planned for.
According to Carol Roberts-Corb, director of Housing and Residential Life, there are about 400 beds available on campus and at the off-campus Residential Learning College, formerly Brooks College.
Due to the large number of applicants in the past, CSULB opened the Residential Learning College to provide 560 more beds.
Roberts-Corb said she believes the decrease in applicants is due mostly to the economy and admissions reductions.
“The economy is tough for folks,” Roberts-Corb said. “We are recognizing it has been financially difficult for people.”
The main objective for Housing and Residential Life right now is getting the word out that spots are still available.
Students and their parents have been notified through e-mail, Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR), parent orientations and signs posted throughout campus, according to Roberts-Corb.
Some students are shocked that there is still room available, since many have had to be placed on the wait list in previous years.
Molly Eledge, a junior business management major, lived on campus for two years but was previously on the wait list for her first year.
“I was number 500 on the wait list,” Eledge said. “I didn’t find out that I had a spot until three weeks before move-in day.”
Even though Housing and Residential Life is recruiting a majority of freshmen this summer, there are some returning students.
Chelsey Curry, a junior nursing major, will live in the dorms for her third year. She encourages students to live on campus for the first couple of years but she understands why some move off campus.
“Most students leave because they want to be more independent,” Curry said. “They want more freedom and no rules.”
Eledge believes the dorms are best for freshmen since it is a good transition from living with their parents to being completely independent in an apartment.
Christine Chen, a junior nutrition major, encourages transfer students like herself to live on campus to meet people.
“I had a friend who was a transfer student like me who lived off campus,” said Chen. “He was lonely; he lived alone in an apartment.”
Housing and Residential Life sent an e-mail to students in May, encouraging them to apply for housing, even though the original deadline was in April.
Prices have slightly increased for returning students on campus, from $7,620 to $7,820. For first-time residents living on campus and at the Residential Learning College, room and board is $10,070 or $10,270 depending on the meal plan.
Housing and Residential Life has been offering individual counseling and affordable payment plans to help students and their families find a way to afford on- and off-campus living.
This article was updated at 5:03 p.m. on July 23, 2009. The Residential Learning College was formerly Brooks College, not Brooks Institute.
E-mail addresses are used only to notify you of replies and are not displayed
Comments powered by Disqus