Living on campus can cost residents a pretty penny but are tuition hikes turning down living in the dorms? For students like Rochelle Ferguson, freshman from Parkside Commons, dorming has burned a whole in her wallet and placed an added stress factor to her family.
Ferguson depends on loans for tuition and being a resident comes from parental contribution. She is now an applicant for the Residents Assistant position, which offers perks such as great job experience, networking and free residence.
"I don't get any financial aid and my mom is a single parent," Ferguson said while she waited for her next class to start. "My sister and i definitely see a difference, we just don't have as much as we use to."
She says that the free housing was the initial attraction to the RA position, but the other duties were also something she could see herself doing.
Tuition hikes at CSULB pose an impending threat to students who depend on financial aid. Funds seem to be decreasing as tuition hikes, leaving students with less and less financial stability. The CSU system's tuition, still less than a UC but also a strain with the constant raises.
"UCs were completely out of the question for me," Ferguson said. " the way it keeps hiking, , who knows if ill be able to afford a CSU, by the time I'm a senior."
The hikes are keeping students running to the housing office to turn in RA applications of going back home. Other students find roommates and an apartment off campus that surprisingly is still more affordable than living on campus.
In anticipation of the constant raises, students glued to their email inbox waiting for the next hike. For some dorming is just out of the question.
-Leslie Campos
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