Over the past few weeks, colleges and universities across the country have come back to life, as students have moved into dorm rooms and off-campus housing complexes that offer a standard of living that would have hardly been imaginable a generation ago, writes Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel in her latest column.
“Everyone wants their offspring to do better than they did. That’s sort of the natural evolution of life and also the American dream,” Riegel writes. “But by what justification does an 18-year-old deserve a dorm room or apartment with solid stone countertops, custom upholstered bedding and a lazy river in the backyard?”
Riegel says that what once was considered luxury is now a bare necessity. And the spaces that house upper-middle-class college kids in our increasingly stratified society reflect this new reality.
“In case you don’t have young adult children or stay off of Pinterest, today’s trendy dorm décor for the fortunate class includes custom shelving units (chalk painted in some chic shade of white), upholstered loveseats and ottomans, clear acrylic desk chairs and side tables, and yards and yards of soft, rich fabrics that cover aluminum window panes, cinder block walls, egg crate ceilings, homemade headboards (thanks, Dad) and that awkward, ugly storage space under the beds,” she writes.
Student apartments can be just as lavish, Riegel says. But then, for $7,000 per semester—which is what a one-bedroom unit costs at the new Gateway apartments at LSU—one would expect nothing less.
“Louisiana is not unique in this respect,” Riegel writes. “Across the U.S., spending on dorm supplies and décor increased 10% in 2017 over 2016 to $1,000, which, actually, would not begin to cover some of the more extravagant room renovations you see on social media.”
But just because something is a national trend doesn’t justify doing it, she says, and not every state in the country is continually broke and struggling to send every eligible high school graduate to college on the public dime.
“How much of this high-end living among coeds in Louisiana is enabled by the state’s Taylor Opportunity Programs for Students, or TOPS?” Riegel writes. “You have to wonder. There’s not any data on it, by the way. But there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that since the state started picking up the tab for any kid with a 2.5 GPA or better to go to college, those families that could have afforded the tuition bill anyway are spending the extra money on fancy dorm furnishings, high-end student housing and new cars for their kids.”
Perhaps it’s time to rethink TOPS and move towards a needs-based system, Riegel says.
“If public money is going to cover tuition so parents can cover their daughters’ dorm windows in dupioni drapes, there’s something wrong,” she writes.
Read the full column. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com
