College dorms are becoming financial albatrosses

IVY-COVERED DORMITORIES nestled around grassy quads have long been the classic image of college life, especially in Massachusetts. Perhaps not for much longer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, dormitories are costing colleges a lot of money – money they don’t have as they struggle to adapt to expensive new technologies and declining student fees. As colleges begin to recover and plan for a post-COVID world, they should examine the role of dorms with a critical eye.

As traditional colleges face a world of competition from dormless for-profit schools, they find their residence halls are money pits. Most are old and require a great deal of maintenance. New ones must be financed, adding to the already heavy debt load of colleges. They sit vacant during the pandemic, and students are getting used to online learning. Could dorms stay empty or only partially occupied?

The classic campus image was never really true beyond the most elite schools. American students are predominately commuters. Today, less than 16 percent of all undergraduate students live in dorms, a number that drops to below 5 percent for community college students. And even at elite schools less than half of first year students live in dorms.

Fixed costs, to which dorms contribute, are a lode stone around the necks of traditional colleges. They represent yesterday’s decisions that must be paid for today and tomorrow. As college presidents survey their campuses, studded with dorms, they count the cost of all the repairs they can’t afford to make. Case in point: the UMass system has deferred $3.6 billion in maintenance needed on dorms and academic buildings.

Read more: https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/college-dorms-are-becoming-financial-albatrosses/