Students struggle with current housing options

Students find themselves weighing their housing options and rising costs are not making it any easier. Between on and off-campus housing rates, students' personal finances and preferences it can be difficult for students to find housing that works for them. This continues to be an ongoing issue that impacts students. 

Christine Plagmann, a senior at Sonoma State, lived on campus for three years. For Plagmann, it had its advantages. She said, “I love living on campus. I like being close to other people. I liked having the ease of knowing where my place was and being close to everyone and everything on campus.”

But cleanliness levels weren’t up to her standards, “It was dirty. My freshman year dorm had centipedes and my sophomore and junior year had carpet bugs. It seemed like every dorm bathroom had mold too.”

 Camryn Glasgow, Hutchins major at SSU had a similar experience, “My first year was last year and we had roaches for like three months. It was a three-month process to get rid of them” 

Not all students have experienced these issues, but with housing costs being well over $6000 per year, students aren’t asking for too much when they say they want their dorms to have decent upkeep and be termite-free. 

Glasgow still lives on campus. When asked if the decision was based on preference or finances Glasgow said, “I’d say mostly finances because we could take out a loan and we could pay it back in increments instead of all at once, because with off-campus you have to pay it monthly.”

After asking the about the affordability of SSU housing, Glasgow later said,” I’m up for paying off my loan but it’s still pretty expensive” 

Having to take out a loan every year for housing can be costly. Later down the road, the numbers add up. Student debt is not on any student's checklist. 

Plagmann now lives off-campus. She chose to after looking at campus housing rates more closely. 

“Now that I have looked at the numbers critically to move off campus. I really don’t think it is worth what we are paying for. ”

However, searching for other options was not easier.  She says, “It was hard. It was really competitive… You have to really be on top of it. The house we have now is not the most affordable  nor was it our first choice but it was the only one we could lock down.”

According to the university website, SSU  housing is known to be “nationally recognized in the Princeton Review for “Dorms Like Palaces”, SSU’s housing goes above and beyond the typical dorm experience by providing suite-style living within six residential villages..” While this is true and recognizable, a lot of students aren’t able to experience the residential villages due to cost and other factors. Around 37% of undergraduate students choose to live on campus. The remaining percentage means more than 50% live off campus. With respect to the unknown of how many of those were chosen for their own reasons. The other remaining percentage is due to the lack of affordability of housing.

There has to be some kind of change, programs, or resources that reach both Sonoma County and SSU housing. Student housing conditions should be better. Students shouldn’t have to take out huge loans that will leave them in debt later down the line. No housing system is perfect but that doesn’t mean there isn't room for improvement.