University of Maryland students struggle to find affordable housing

University of Maryland Elkton Hall and Denton Hall. (Jeffrey Sauers. Copyright ©2013 Jeffrey Sauers, commercialphoto.com)

Soaring rent prices have made it challenging for college students to afford on-campus and off-campus housing, while juggling other financial priorities. For junior criminal justice major Christina Ambrose, the inflated rent prices have made apartment hunting an arduous task.

The junior said one of the one-bedroom apartments she found cost $1400 a month.

“I can't imagine someone who does not have some of the resources that I do, paying for that apartment by themselves,” Ambrose said. 

Researchers in the real estate industry say that the rise in inflation rates has caused rent prices to increase considerably over the past year. The national average for rent rose by 11.3% last year, according to real estate research firm CoStar Group.

In College Park, the median rental price increased by 5% between 2019 and 2022, according to data collected by Bright MLS Inc., a company that shows available rental listings and their corresponding prices in several northeastern states.

Because College Park is located between D.C. and Baltimore, students at this university have to compete with each other and non-students for cheaper rentals in the town.

In the last 10 years, the number of people aged 65 and over living in Prince George’s County increased by 46%, according to the county’s Population, Housing, and Economics survey.

“People from Greater Baltimore sometimes migrate further down for, sometimes diversity, sometimes accessibility, sometimes schools, things like that,” said Jachel Smalls, real estate agent for The Smalls Team at Executive Home Realty. “People from D.C. migrate north for affordability.”

Smalls added that a high demand for housing in College Park in recent years has attracted more private developers and real estate investors who have been funneling money into housing projects in the area.

“If you were my client and you were looking to buy a rental property, I would say purchase something where the demand is high, and colleges have students and students need to rent,” she said.

When it comes to on-campus housing, 11,575 students out of 30,000 students enrolled at the university live in residence halls, according to data from the school’s Office of Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment.

The university also has approximately 9,800 beds in its 37 residence halls, and 75% of the beds are in double occupancy rooms, according to data from the Department of Resident Life. In addition to the residence halls, there are 3,000 beds split between two campus-affiliated undergraduate housing apartments.

Of the on-campus options available, the cheapest costs $7,501 for the entire academic year, according to data from the department. For this price, students would live in a room that is double occupancy, requires bunked beds and is without air conditioning.

In the last five years, the increase of on-campus housing rates has ranged between zero and 4.4% per year, according to Tracy Kiras, Associate Director of Communications and Marketing for the Department of Resident Life. Increases are based on how much it costs to manage the hall, state-mandated salary and wage increases, cost of utilities and ongoing maintenance of the halls, according to Kiras.

The Department of Resident Life has a policy that prioritizes housing for freshmen and sophomores, leaving few on-campus spots for upperclassmen, according to its website.

“Based on our market study, the recommendation was we focus our program on first- and second-year students, because that's a pivotal transition period,” Kiras said.

This university does not house graduate students on campus currently.

The school was in the process of building a residence hall for graduate students seeking affordable housing, but opposition from student activists paused construction. The activists argued that building on Guilford Woods would clear nearly 1,000 trees on 11-acres of university-owned land, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

Despite this setback, the university will pilot a program this year that will focus on housing 90 graduate students at The Courtyards, a nearby campus-affiliated apartment complex, according to Kiras.

However, upperclassman undergraduates and graduate students will still have to resort to off-campus housing, a venture that presents challenges such as finding a location close enough to campus that is affordable.

“When looking for off-campus housing, UMD undergraduate students are often looking for a balance of cost, location, housing type and amenities,” Kiras said. “This often means that as the year progresses, the apartment communities closest to campus fill their vacancies first and often may be a bit pricier due to the proximity to campus.”

Junior journalism major Haley Kerby described the search for affordable off-housing as a burden for students as they have to consider the logistics of making timely payments, avoiding extra fees, and ensuring that they can get their security deposit returned when their lease expires.

“It definitely causes stress, and financial stress is the worst kind of stress in college because not only are you already worried about your classes and staying on top of everything, but now you have to worry about all this money too,” she said.

The university’s Off-Campus Housing Services, however, assists students with resources such as a housing database. It also advises students on what questions to ask and the things that they should be looking for when they're reading over a lease.

Kerby added that a class that teaches how to navigate renting and the search for cheaper rentals would also better help students navigate this process— a responsibility she’s never had to take on before.

The Department of Resident Life has an on-campus student housing strategic plan that serves as a 15-year roadmap to respond to the need and demand for on-campus housing.

Its vision is to elevate the quality of the undergraduate experience, ensuring that resident life and residential facilities continue to meet the university’s culture of excellence, according to its website. It also plans to construct 3,000 new beds.

While the department does not plan to build new residence halls, Kiras said it will focus on modernizing some of its existing inventory.