Elizabethtown College is the place many call home during the transition from student to career professional. Be that as it may, unlike the famous Etown carrot cake or Truman the labradoodle, student response is sometimes mixed when concerning on-campus living options, especially after undergoing recent electrical outages and microbial, some Etown campus community members may think options of student residency aren’t of equal stature to other nearby colleges.
Eighty-four percent of Etown’s students live on-campus. Although the current Etown population of undergraduates has yet to receive Bachelor’s degrees, all students have one major similarity: student debt. When asked about their thoughts of campus housing, many students grew defensive.
“I’m putting myself in financial strain by paying [Etown] tuition, but the campus housing facilities look like they were updated 50 years ago,” one student who wished to remain anonymous said.
Darby Keller, former Etown Class of 2020 student, recently transferred to a new institution and had this to say about the situation:
“I feel as though with the money [Etown students] pay for room and board that the dorms should be adequately up to date on ADA requirements. [Students] shouldn’t be having issues like mold unless it’s an environmental issue that can’t be prevented.”
So, how does Etown compare to other area colleges?
While juniors and seniors at Etown begin unpacking belongings to move into the dormitories for a third or fourth year, neighboring institutions, such as Penn State Harrisburg or Millersville University, provide suite or apartment-style living for incoming first-years. Lebanon Valley College (LVC) is another institution in central Pennsylvania with updated, modern living spaces.
Similar to Etown, LVC students are required to live in traditional residence halls for their first and sophomore year. As an upperclassman, the options of suite or apartment style living also becomes available. They also have student living communities such as we do, in addition to provided guaranteed housing for all four years. Basically, the difference of housing between Etown and LVC is that LVC’s residences are more up to date. Yearly costs within LVC’s dorms is around $5300, which is actually slightly less than Etown’s housing costs.
Despite negative opinions of some students who reside on Etown’s campus, Residence Life remains patient when the delicate subject arises. The complex subject of student housing has many components, dependent upon the type of institution, the debt capacity the school is willing and permitted to assume, the overall cost of attendance and market forces involved in enrollment.
Allison Bridgeman, associate Dean of Students and Director of Etown Residence Life and Student Activites, acknowledged why students are upset.
“I do think we [Etown College Residence Life] have acknowledged residence facilities are outdated,” she said.
“We know our housing is not balanced in a way that we want it to be. Juniors and seniors should be out of dorms, however our lack of space within these residence buildings places renovations on hold.”
Bridgeman cleared the misinterpretation of many students who inquire about the lack of funding to update residence halls and the ability to have enough money to build the new wellness building.
“New building facilities on campus are usually funded by alumni donors who were involved with this area of campus life,” Bridgeman explained.
“Nevertheless, working with specific donors and building companies help build connections in a partnership to eventually benefit our housing so it can be what students are looking for.”
Even with ongoing issues, the fall 2018 semester made a step toward positive change. Like LVC or Millersville, Etown upperclassmen were offered a new off-campus suite housing option within a local apartment complex, Featherton Crossing.
While this new option is exciting, neighboring colleges still have far more updated student living buildings. Scott Helfrich, Millersville University Director of Housing & Residency Programs, compared Etown housing to those of his employer.
Helfrich gave specific details of Millersville student housing, beginning with the top of the university creating a public-private partnership with campus Student Services, Inc. to construct 1,909 new beds in suite-style residence halls in three phases between 2014-16. This was additional to the 323 existing beds already within two other buildings that were constructed many years prior. The new residence halls required financing of over $140 million, with a payment plan of 30 years or less.
Naturally, the only way to pay that is through generating income by billing students for that housing. The least expensive option Millersville offers students is to be placed within suites in generic residence halls, consisting of two bedrooms and two bathrooms to be utilized by four students.
The estimated price of housing at Millersville is $4,304 per semester or $8,608 for the academic year. Based upon Etown’s listed housing rates of $5,630 for the 2018-19 academic year, Millersville’s new suites are roughly $3,000 more yearly.
Etown is a residential college; the Etown experience is best when students live on campus. This makes campus housing an especially important part of a student’s college experience. Hopefully, Etown can continue on their path to improving and diversifying student residences in years to come.
