Dorm Luxuries final draft
Luxury dorms are what every college student wants, but do they want to pay the price? The answer is no because the price of dorm living keeps rising. This article “Why universities are phasing out luxury dorms” by Jeffery Selingo will explain to you how the student and the students parent feels about the price of luxury dorms. I believe luxury dorms shouldn’t exist because of many reasons like it decreases the amount of people that graduate and increases tuition.
Dorm life was basic in the nineteen hundred and even tried to be illuminated like in “Brown and Columbia University even attempted to eliminate dorms from their campuses” (Selingo 1-2). The new century came around and campuses were eager for students to go to their school, so they competed by having the best living spaces and recreation centers, “A surge of students from the millennial generation were graduating from high schools nationwide, and many colleges found the simplest way to compete for attention in a crowded market was to build fancier facilities” (Selingo 2). College debt went up, student fees did also because students were paying for buildings and amenities they never got to enjoy. Now it is discovered students and parents don’t care for new amenities and dorms because it just keeps making tuition go up. The higher the tuition the less likely for students to graduate because students are focused on everything but school. “The reason behind this shift is a combination of growing concerns about rising tuition and student debt, declining numbers of high-school graduates, and the ever-fluctuating tastes of students and parents.” (Selingo 3). Georgia state university conducted an experience of building tiny dorms and it cut half the price. This idea of tiny dorms became very popular and increased graduation. States that some colleges are going to start using this idea from Georgia state university and some college are going to still build new and expensive buildings for their students.
This article is not one sided, it mentions studies that don’t support new amenities as Susan expressed ““We don’t see the amenities arms race anymore,” said Susan Fitzgerald” (Selingo 3). and, some ideas that support new college buildings. Some colleges took on the idea of tiny dorms like Georgia and some colleges didn’t agree with the idea. As Georgia introduced the idea of tiny dorms it got negative and positive feedback ““When I first brought this up, the housing folks said it wouldn’t work because every college is building apartment buildings,” Rackliffe said.” (Selingo 4). I agree with Georgia state university’s idea of small dorms I agree with this because it keeps tuition down, graduation rates increase, and students don’t want to stay there.
The colleges should stop building new amenities because it raises the price of tuition and room & board every year when they build a new building. This effect the current students attending the campus paying tuition but not the student that students years later getting to use the amenities. “New student fees approved by undergraduates funded the debt for many of these amenities. These were students who, by the time the fees were implemented, had long since graduated, leaving the tab for their successors.”[LA1] (Selingo 2). An example of this is the recreation center construction has started construction in 2016, the students that are incoming freshman in 2016 are paying for the new recreation center that they will not use. The raise of tuition every year is decreasing the number of students graduating each year since students get to into debt and can’t pay for another year leading to drop outs. As well as students focused on all the amenities like new recreation centers, game rooms and specialty foods. The students are focused on the amazing things their campus is offering when they should be focused on his or her grades. This leads to not enough time focused on academics and students end up failing out. That’s why I belief in the idea of Georgia state universities idea of tiny dorms to keep tuition down and increase graduation rights. I also agree with Georgia state universities idea because students don’t want to stay in college dorms after their first of second year of college. Students go to college and stay in dorms and get a new experience that they might enjoy, but most the time they don’t enjoy. This leads to students moving off the campus after their first of second year in most cases. This is a positive thing for the school because they can just keep refilling the empty dorms with incoming freshman and avoid building new dorms.
Colleges build these new amenities to get the wow factor by high school graduates so that they find interest in enrolling in that school. “New buildings are often the first stop on campus tours for prospective students and their families. Jeff Kallay, who has been hired by dozens of colleges as a consultant to improve their tours and make them more effective in motivating prospective students to apply, said he has seen a shift from “grandiose palaces to niche amenities,” such as gaming lounges for Wii and Xbox.” (Selingo 6). This dumbfounds the incoming freshman because when students are going to school they should be focused on getting good grade, a good grade point average, and graduating. Going to a school that helps you academically is the main key not focusing on how many nights you can stay up playing air hockey or pool while you should be studying. Students are blindsided when they go on campus visits or tours because they see awesome café’s, recreation centers, and dorms when they should be focused on numbers like success rate, how long an average student takes to graduate, and job placement. Colleges should have dorms and other amenities on campus that suit basic needs such as a dorm with a bed, dresser, desk. Also, a kitchen and a bathroom shared with the whole floor and a recreation center. The Patton hall at Georgia state share this idea of having the basic needs of living “From the day it opened, the new dorm has filled up faster than other campus Housing…. The rooms “might be tiny, but they still include modern conveniences,” Rackliffe said, such as washers and dryers and lounges on each floor, Wi-Fi, and air conditioning.” (Selingo 5). Those are the basic needs for life and that’s all you need while at college because it isn’t supposed to be somewhere you want to stay forever, it is made for students to live in for one to four years and then leave. The younger generation have lost track of the focus of attending college from these amenities distracting them.
My opining is not based off experience, just knowledge from talking to college students that live in dorms. I have never lived in a dorm, if I had that opportunity I would take it just to see how I like it. Other students have said negative things about living in a dorm because sharing a bathroom, not getting along with roommates and not having private space. Many positive things have been said to like getting away from home, being close to class and having food at your fingertips. These results do not surprise me, but it is very interesting that many students agree they would rather live in a dorm then at home. The article does not surprise me in the fact that some colleges are trying the tiny dorm ideas and some colleges aren’t trying it. Also, that many student and parents would rather have the tiny dorms because of the difference in tuition you have to pay and the graduation rate.
Work Cited
Selingo, Jeffrey. “Why Universities Are Phasing Out Luxury Dorms.” The Atlantic, 9 April 2017 https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-universities-are-phasing-out-luxury-dorms/537492/ Accessed 15 Feb. 2017