With tuition rising and the state slowly pulling Cal Grants, it is no wonder that many students are scraping to find places to live while they further their education.
Several instances of students crashing in friend’s dorms or using their cars as a home away from home have been heard of on the University of La Verne’s campus.
Many of these instances can be blamed on last minute decisions or late housing applications made by the students, but the University is at least partially to blame.
With representatives recruiting students as far away as Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam you would think that La Verne would want to ensure that if these students were to come to the main campus there would be room for them here.
While we have had a major increase in the number of incoming freshmen for the past two years, there has not been a major increase in housing to accommodate the numbers.
In the past Brandt hall was strictly reserved for the freshmen class while other dorms were mixed freshmen and upperclassmen.
Now entire wings of the all-women’s dorm, and buildings in the Oaks residence halls have been set aside to house solely the freshmen students.
On top of that, the first floor of the new dorms will also be reserved for freshmen as well, once they are completed.
This allows the freshmen to mingle with one another and gives them a chance to start off socially with a bang.
However, this decision also left many upperclassmen to fend for themselves.
Last year was the first year that housing implemented the first-come-first-serve basis for students wanting to live on campus.
Before this change was made, housing was given according to need starting with graduate students and seniors and working its way down the classes.
Under the old application process, students who were truly unable to commute had an opportunity to find a room on campus.
Now if students are placed on a wait list they either stay in a friend’s room or apartment hunt with other friends who did not receive housing.
Students whose homes are anywhere from a few hours away to several states away are now sometimes losing housing to students who live 20 minutes away from campus.
If the University really wants to attract students and keep them here, it needs to stop putting dreams before progress and ensure that there is housing available for those students who truly need it first.
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.
