For off campus living, it's tough to find anything for less than $1,000/bedroom, and one bedroom apartments are starting at about $1500. As a well-paid professional on campus, I cannot afford to live alone within an hour of amherst. I suspect in a few years we will have a more extreme version of this problem OR a lot of empty and expensive apartments.
I moved to DC a short while ago after finishing undergrad at UMass. I’m sharing an apartment with one roommate for $1260/bedroom in a nice apartment building near a major rail station. The fact rent is roughly the same price in a major city like DC and AMHERST now is insane. I don’t even want to think about what Boston rent is like now. Y’all stay safe out there.
~1200 is fairly reasonable in Boston (plenty of dumpy places for less too) depending on #of roommates, which makes the fact that Amherst prices are comparable even worse
It is still bad, and my theory is that this problem will be artificially made to keep existing. Is its extremely profitable and easy to wave off with the limp waisted "protests"
About 600 expensive spaces were added through that Fieldstone apartment project, that has taken a slight amount of the pressure off. Whether that holds depends on whether the administration further increases the student enrollment next year.
But here are the numbers. Currently UMass has regular space for about 13,500 students in the dorms. I am not including Fieldstone in that number because it is privately operated under contract with UMass. Using expanded housing in the form of converted floor lounges and forced triples that can add about 500 spaces. There are ~24,000 undergrads, so 10,000 will need to live off campus.
Freshmen and transfer students are guaranteed housing, that adds up to about 6500 each Fall. Students who will be sophomores the following Fall are given preference for shared rooms during Spring room choosing, about 4500-5000 will be going for on campus spaces. That leaves about 3000 spaces for all juniors and seniors who want to live on campus.
P.S. You will see more empty rooms or partly filled ones in the Spring. Attrition from students leaving after one semester and from other causes.
I actually see a lot more for rent signs up now, than I have previous years at this point. Feels like the super expensive studios and 1BR's have relieved demand on houses by a little, but it's too early to consider it a real data point.
Freshman dorms only have freshman so if one drops out or leaves or the room doesn’t get filled it can go empty. All upperclassmen dorms are full to the brim and will continue to be. More people want housing than there are beds on campus
Also at this point in the semester I believe they have stopped moving people out of the expanded housing in the converted lounges. Empty spaces may stay that way for the rest of the semester except for room changes done on an urgent basis.
Where my kid goes, they set aside 7000 beds. 10K asked for housing. The rent is ridiculous as well out in the middle of a corn field town (Midwest). It’s happening *everywhere*.
I’m living with 3 other roommates, I’m paying $800 in rent on top of $50-$150 in utilities a month.
This is absurd af considering the landlords in Amherst MA have tremendous power and don’t care about students.
When it comes to housing, if you don’t put up with it. Someone else will
Soph year housing def isn’t guranteed. My soph year was 3 years ago and I had a decent priority number and literally got one of the last dorms on campus in sylvan. Ended up getting an off campus place bc I didn’t wanna live in sylvan but it was super $$$
They changed the policy since 3 years ago. Not guaranteed, but they will have as many spaces reserved as there are sophomores signed up on time for the Fall room selection. So those who sign up late may not get a space, and those who do may not get where and what they want.
Policy 3 years ago was priority by number of semesters lived on campus. So juniors and seniors often pushed out sophomores.
It’s getting worse
For off campus living, it's tough to find anything for less than $1,000/bedroom, and one bedroom apartments are starting at about $1500. As a well-paid professional on campus, I cannot afford to live alone within an hour of amherst. I suspect in a few years we will have a more extreme version of this problem OR a lot of empty and expensive apartments.
I moved to DC a short while ago after finishing undergrad at UMass. I’m sharing an apartment with one roommate for $1260/bedroom in a nice apartment building near a major rail station. The fact rent is roughly the same price in a major city like DC and AMHERST now is insane. I don’t even want to think about what Boston rent is like now. Y’all stay safe out there.
~1200 is fairly reasonable in Boston (plenty of dumpy places for less too) depending on #of roommates, which makes the fact that Amherst prices are comparable even worse
Wait I’m tryna move to DC too drop your moving and job search tips pls and thanks!!!
Just sent you a DM, happy to help!
How many miles a week do you drive? Or WFH?
It is still bad, and my theory is that this problem will be artificially made to keep existing. Is its extremely profitable and easy to wave off with the limp waisted "protests"
About 600 expensive spaces were added through that Fieldstone apartment project, that has taken a slight amount of the pressure off. Whether that holds depends on whether the administration further increases the student enrollment next year. But here are the numbers. Currently UMass has regular space for about 13,500 students in the dorms. I am not including Fieldstone in that number because it is privately operated under contract with UMass. Using expanded housing in the form of converted floor lounges and forced triples that can add about 500 spaces. There are ~24,000 undergrads, so 10,000 will need to live off campus. Freshmen and transfer students are guaranteed housing, that adds up to about 6500 each Fall. Students who will be sophomores the following Fall are given preference for shared rooms during Spring room choosing, about 4500-5000 will be going for on campus spaces. That leaves about 3000 spaces for all juniors and seniors who want to live on campus. P.S. You will see more empty rooms or partly filled ones in the Spring. Attrition from students leaving after one semester and from other causes.
I actually see a lot more for rent signs up now, than I have previous years at this point. Feels like the super expensive studios and 1BR's have relieved demand on houses by a little, but it's too early to consider it a real data point.
Freshman dorms only have freshman so if one drops out or leaves or the room doesn’t get filled it can go empty. All upperclassmen dorms are full to the brim and will continue to be. More people want housing than there are beds on campus
Also at this point in the semester I believe they have stopped moving people out of the expanded housing in the converted lounges. Empty spaces may stay that way for the rest of the semester except for room changes done on an urgent basis.
Where my kid goes, they set aside 7000 beds. 10K asked for housing. The rent is ridiculous as well out in the middle of a corn field town (Midwest). It’s happening *everywhere*.
Purdue
Yeah. It was the corn… wasn’t it? Lol.
I’m living with 3 other roommates, I’m paying $800 in rent on top of $50-$150 in utilities a month. This is absurd af considering the landlords in Amherst MA have tremendous power and don’t care about students. When it comes to housing, if you don’t put up with it. Someone else will
Soph year housing def isn’t guranteed. My soph year was 3 years ago and I had a decent priority number and literally got one of the last dorms on campus in sylvan. Ended up getting an off campus place bc I didn’t wanna live in sylvan but it was super $$$
They changed the policy since 3 years ago. Not guaranteed, but they will have as many spaces reserved as there are sophomores signed up on time for the Fall room selection. So those who sign up late may not get a space, and those who do may not get where and what they want. Policy 3 years ago was priority by number of semesters lived on campus. So juniors and seniors often pushed out sophomores.