State colleges move to privately financed dorms

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Towson University will break ground today for a new $39 million student housing complex for 670 underclassmen. Like most new housing at Maryland state colleges, it will be built and operated by a private developer.

In recent years, the state’s colleges have moved away from building dormitories as a way to minimize debt. The state does not subsidize the cost of building student housing, so the colleges themselves are responsible for borrowing money when new dormitories are built. But by allowing a private developer to shoulder the building and operation costs of on-campus housing, the colleges shift most of the debt to the private developer.

“The fact of the matter is that we have a lot of needs on campus. A lot of needs that will be addressed by us borrowing money ... and if we can build that housing component by partnership with someone who will bring money to the table ... it’s advantageous,” said James Sheehan, the vice president for administration and finance and chief fiscal officer for Towson University

The so-called “public/private” residence halls are usually more expensive than traditional on-campus housing.

At the University of Maryland, College Park, for instance, next year the public/private residence halls will cost students from $6,900 to $9,540 annually, and on-campus housing will cost from $5,287 to $5,510 per year, according to the university Web site.

At Towson University, the public/private residence hall costs $7,277, while traditional on-campus housing costs from $4,500 to $5,296 annually, according to Towson’s Web site.

But increased costs also reflect increased amenities.

“It’s really an apples-and-oranges situation. With these newer developments, you are seeing situations where, in some cases, students have their own room and bathroom,” said Greig Mitchell, vice president of administration and finance for Salisbury University, which provides a public/private residence hall for more than 800 students.

Cost isn’t the only problem these residence halls cause for students at College Park, said Emma Simson, the president of the university’s Student Government Association. Students must sign yearlong leases to live in either the South Campus Commons or University Courtyards, the college’s only public/private dorms.

“For a lot of students, they don’t stay on campus all year [so they sublet]. But it’s difficult because you have several thousand students all trying to sublet [for the summer],” Simson said.

Still, Simson said, the South Campus Commons and University Courtyards are preferable to paying rent for off-campus apartments and houses.

“The public/private partnerships are more expensive than on-campus housing, but they are still a much more affordable than living off campus,” she said.

mmcilroy@baltimoreexaminer.com

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