Rylan Howe

Living expenses at GSP-Corbin Hall, located northeast of Memorial Stadium, range between $2,752 and $4,218.

Student housing expenses will increase next year primarily in residence halls where expenses will cost $5,802 — a $176 increase.

This is part of a series of annual increases. A standard two-person bedroom and a meal plan will cost $1,388 more than it did five years ago.

The prices have turned some freshmen from the living in residence halls.

Jenna Howard, Lincoln, Neb. freshman, will move from Corbin Hall to Jefferson Commons Apartments, 2511 W. 31st St., next year.

She said it would be $1,500 cheaper to live in Jefferson Commons next year.

“The dorms were a great place to meet people, but I’d like my own room and my own bathroom next year,” Howard said.

A new mean plan format and hall maintenance costs are reasons for the increase, said Kip Grosshans, associate director for housing office administration.

The Department of Student Housing merged with KU Cuisine last fall, adding cash to residence hall students’ KUIDs, depending on the meal plan. On a traditional meal plan, $200 for the year was designated on

KUIDs for students to use in the Kansas Union food court, The Underground or the Burge Union food court.

Maintenance of older residence halls like GSP-Corbin, Oliver and McCollum contributed to the higher prices as well, Grosshans said.

“The likelihood of having repairs on these buildings is pretty high, for example, but Ellsworth, Templin and Lewis are brand new, so there’s no effort there at all,” he said.

Generally, students do not return to residence halls after their freshman years. There were 2,701 freshmen in residence halls last year, but only 424 sophomores lived there this year.

Although many students will move out of the residence halls, it is not always because of price.

Jessica Roper, Lawrence sophomore and GSP resident, said she will move to Meadowbrook Apartments next year, but she wasn’t concerned about the cost.

“I just moved out because I wanted my own personal space,” she said.

— Edited by Megan Claus