New housing policies pinch student wallets

Baker University has altered its housing policies, forcing incoming freshman to live in student dormitories.
Read The Baker Orange's article about the change.

Students under 21 are required to live on campus in residence halls. One way out of dorms is to live in a greek house. But to do that, students must have 30 college credit hours.

In the past, freshmen who earned 30 credit hours during high school could bunk up in greek houses. Not anymore. The new housing policy no longer recognizes those hours. Instead, the 30 hours must be attained AFTER high school.

The change puts greek houses in a bind by reducing budget expectations. Some houses have freshmen move in at the launch of each semester. Devoid of freshmen members, it might be harder for houses to meet financial obligations.

So why the sudden distinction between hours earned in high school and hours earned after? Well, Baker claims living in dorms enhances the student learning experience. The resources available in a dorm enable students to comfortably nuzzle their way into college life, Baker officials say.

But it's really not about student comfort. It's really about money. Baker banks on having a certain amount of on-campus residents. Strict regulations make it pretty easy to dip into students' wallets. Now it's even easier.

Baker's kind of like the school bully, hoisting up new freshmen and shaking money and earned college credit hours from their grasp.

One of the dorms is infected with mold and has a leaky ceiling Watch Fox 4's coverage of the problems , while the others are tightly cramped. Given the current conditions of student resident halls, Baker should be trying to help students find quality living quarters. But intead, it's using an iron fist to generate a profit.

The new housing policies are bogus and should be altered immediately.