By Tasnim Oyshi
Staff Writer
If you live on campus and have yet to look at the recent emails from Residential Education and Housing, it is important that you do so. On Nov. 5, ResEd sent out an email to students with the subject, “Upcoming Housing Changes.” The email discussed three significant updates that we can expect to see next year in the College’s housing plans.
The first two modifications that are explained are generally good news for students. The first is that the College will begin to allow students across different class years to room together, starting next year. “Beginning Fall 2026, sophomores, juniors and seniors will select from the same housing options under the new ‘Rising Student Experience’ (RSE),” the email states.
In addition to the benefit this will provide to friends and family from different years who want to live together, this change will also give upperclassmen the ability to room in other RSE residential halls. This will be an improvement from before, when upperclassmen housing was limited to the apartment-style Haudoerffer and Phelps Hall and Townhouses South and West, according to TCNJ’s website.
The second update stated that the College intends to have air conditioning in Cromwell, Decker, Ely, Allen and Brewster halls by the fall of next year, “providing there are no additional supply chain complications.” As stated in the email, this will give all RSE buildings and half of the freshmen buildings air conditioning.
Up until this point in the email, the information provided speaks of upgrades that will better the quality of on-campus living. It is the third point regarding the new tiered housing system that does not seem to be much of an improvement to the current housing plan.
The email shows a table in which three tiers are listed. Each of the tiers has specific amenities. They range from communal bathrooms and no air conditioning in Tier 1 to private bathrooms and/or air conditioning in Tier 2 to private bathrooms, air conditioning and private living rooms in Tier 3.
The prices for single rooms, double rooms and triple rooms, as well as what buildings fall into which tier are also stated on the list. For single rooms in Tier 1 and double rooms in Tier 2, students would have to pay the base rate. The amount they have to pay for the other options are shown through an addition or subtraction of either $500 or $1,000 per semester.
This will be an expansion on the single/double room prices that the College began in 2023, which has since added a $500 extra charge to single rooms in certain buildings. This is the College’s way of “ensuring affordability and transparency.” While this list does give a transparent price breakdown of the cost of living in specific buildings, the affordability part is questionable.
When the College increased the price of single rooms by $500, I remember students who either had planned to room in a single room or even had to have single rooms due to accommodations being quite distressed. This was of course justifiable, as the price students pay for tuition is already such a large number. Now, the single rooms in the Townhouses, Phelps and Hausdoerffer will cost an additional $1000 per semester, instead of the $500 per semester.
It is not abnormal for colleges to increase the amount they charge students for tuition and housing every year, with inflation playing a big part. According to an article by BestColleges, tuition prices are also not regulated in the U.S. In addition, the decline in state funding for public colleges over the years have contributed heavily to the increase in prices that students have to pay.
However, going from a $500 to a $1000 upcharge to live alone is a bit absurd, especially when you consider that many of the people who apply for single rooms have to get them due to specific accommodations. Asking students to also pay that money for an air conditioned building is also unreasonable when students don’t get to decide which buildings get air conditioning.
Ely, Allen, Brewster, Cromwell and Decker are only getting air conditioning now and if the College is planning on doing this for all residential halls eventually, all students will have to pay at least the extra $500 each semester. When housing applications begin on Nov. 21, there will ultimately be students who get the short end of the stick and have appointments set so late that they’re basically cornered into selecting a room that may be more expensive than the one they wanted. Ultimately, this new plan is too pricey.
