New College Dorms - Luxurious, Upscale and Expensive

In the past, living in a college dorm meant a much too small room, with paper thin walls, and a communal bathroom way down the hall. It also meant lumpy twin beds (often bunks), group showers, old furniture, a snoring or partying roommate, and a laundry room in a dark, damp basement. But there's still a lot to be said for the old college dorm experience. It was a reality check for some, and a great equalizer for others. There are just some lessons in life that have to be learned in a less than posh environment. But today's new college dorm is anything but sparse.

All over the United States there is an effort to replace outdated dorms, with resort style new college dorms, that have all the amenities. There is fierce competition among the colleges for the enrollment of America's brightest (and apparently wealthiest) students, and their parents are demanding much more for higher tuition. Colleges are also trying to convince upper class-men to remain in college dorms, rather than transferring to off-campus dwellings. New college dorms have to deliver the goods, so it's all about campus makeovers.

Many of today's youth have grown up in the lap of luxury. They've had their own rooms in spacious houses, with a computer, private land-line phone, cell phone, CD and DVD players, and a flat screen TV. They've never had to share a room, and they didn't have to sleep in a twin bed. Many got a new car, while still in high school, as a gift from their parents. Apparently they expect to carry on this cushy lifestyle when they leave home, and their expectations are extremely high for college dorm apartments. They're not interested in scaling down, and increasingly upscale new college dorms reflect that cultural mind set.

New college dorms offer private rooms with baths and kitchens. Communal living means a private bedroom and bath, in a shared apartment suite. Many students rent limos to make their first arrival on campus, and maid service, grocery delivery, and laundry service can also be purchased. (What's not to like?)
Students at DePaul University in Chicago, living in Loft-Right new college dorms, pay more than $1,000 a month for a private bedroom, in either a 2 or 4 bedroom suite. Bathrooms are limited to 2 people. With views of the city, modern designer furniture (Herman Miller), high speed Internet, satellite TV hookups in rooms, and Wi-Fi in the common areas, living in this college dorm, is much like a grand hotel, according to Martha Irvine, of Boston.com News.

All the new college dorms at Loft-Right have full kitchens, with refrigerator, stove, and microwave. The lobby has a lounge with a fireplace and a pool table. On the first floor there is a Starbucks, nail spa, tanning center, bank, and sandwich cafe. The Loft-Right college dorms also offer personalized key card access, a full-time doorman, 911 emergency phones in each unit, video cameras in public areas, limited indoor heated parking, along with traditional parking, There are also no curfews or restrictive visitation rules in this college dorm. The prices quoted on their web site ran from $12,750 per student (per academic term), to $26,150 per student per academic term, depending on the number of people sharing a suite.

Robert Bronstein, developer and student housing consultant, at DePaul University in Chicago, now has another new progressive concept in mind, for college dorms. He wants to create a "Club Med" for students attending Illinois State University. The new college dorms will have hot tubs, outdoor volleyball courts, and plasma TVs in each apartment. He states definitively that there will be no more college dorm designs with communal bathrooms. (Many are now providing full-sized beds as well.)

Ball State University in Ohio has new college dorms that cost $36 million, and include amenities such as a digital music lab, mobile furniture, and a dining room that offers online take out service. Texas A&M has resort type townhouse college dorms with a pool and basketball courts. The renovated, luxurious, new college dorms of the University of South Florida, offer 42 inch high-definition flat screen televisions in each apartment.

Many campuses offer wireless Internet connections, as well as enormous recreation centers, to accompany the new college dorms. Southern Methodist University has an aerobic workout room that features 7 huge flat-screen TVs, 6 racquetball courts, a lap pool, a 40-foot rock climbing wall, an indoor soccer field, a huge weight room, treadmills, spinners, elliptical trainers with their own TV monitors, gravity trainers, 2 volleyball courts, an indoor track, rental of canoes and tents, and a coffee shop, according to James M. O'Neill of The Dallas Morning News. (Just a few perks.) Oh, I forgot--the 7 foot outdoor waterfall and wading pool, for college dorm students who want to sunbathe and hang out, seems to have slipped my mind.

And talk about the competition between new college dorms--it's unbelievable. O'Neill writes that Baylor University originally was going to build a 41 foot rock climbing wall, but after hearing that Texas A&M had a wall 44 feet high, they revamped their plans, and made theirs 52 feet high. But alas, not to be outdone, the University of Houston built one 53 feet high. Baylor also has a pool with a lazy river, and offers massage therapy in its sports recreation complex. MIT has fitness rooms in all its dorms, dance studios, and music practice rooms with baby grand pianos. According to Sarah Schweitzer, of Boston.com., Northeastern University has installed a feature called "Laundry View" which allows students to check on their laundry by computer access, from their college dorm. Texas A&M-Commerce has a planetarium, and on and on it goes. (It's a pity how these kids are suffering at college, isn't it?)

If all this wasn't enough, Boston architect Jonathan Levi, has come up with a futuristic new college dorm design that surpasses anyone's wildest dreams. In his concept, there are giant wall-sized computer screens, where a student can press a button and access his professor's lecture. The wall would then revert to a floor to ceiling window with one touch. Students would pick out their own prefab new college dorm rooms, which would then be shipped to their college location, and the rooms would have modular furniture and movable walls. Since youth are used to customizing everything these days, why not design their own new college dorm rooms? Levi says that the prefab style would actually be cheaper than traditional college dorms.

I guess it's inevitable that the times are changing, but I wonder what kind of precedent these new college dorm accommodations present to students? Will they always feel the need to live at this income level? Will they ever truly appreciate the fruits of hard work and persistence in achieving a higher level of living? And what will they have to look forward to? Lastly, with all these amenities in new college dorms, how are they getting any studying done? (I'm just sayin'...)

Sources: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/02/college_dorms_get_high_tech_treatment/
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/0728dnmetclimbing.e8b960.html
http://media.www.theeastcarolinian.com/media/storage/paper915/news/2004/09/16/Features/Forget.Group.Showers.New.College.Dorms.Aim.To.Be.Homey-2209184.shtml
http://www.openeducation.net/2007/09/05/twenty-first-century-college-dorms/
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/09/14/college_dorms_go_upscale/
http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/03-17-What-s-up-with-dorms
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070904.wldorms04/BNStory/lifeFamily/home
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/0728dnmetclimbing.e8b960.html
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/04/27/the_new_campus_crib/
http://1237west.com/#/Why-1237-West/