Now that housing lottery numbers have been released, upperclassmen are facing a difficult predicament. Many sophomores and juniors who waited until the spring to receive their numbers are confronting the prospect of moving off campus and paying rent prices upwards of $700 a month. To avoid this situation in the future, Tufts should release lottery numbers earlier in the academic year.
Students who wish to avoid the astronomical prices of local apartments are kept in suspense until the March housing lottery. By the time upperclassmen discover that they will be locked out of on-campus housing, most off-campus apartments are unavailable, with the exception of the most expensive and inconveniently-located houses. Pushing forward the lottery would afford students more time to evaluate their numbers, investigate off campus housing options, and perhaps sign a lease at one of the many affordable apartments that by March will no longer be on the market.
An early release date would also let students investigate other on-campus options, including on-campus apartments, culture houses, and special-interest application-only housing. While it is true some students will opt for special-interest housing upon learning of their poor lottery numbers, those students with a genuine interest in the houses will still be given preference in the application processes.
Students on financial aid are especially burdened when the housing lottery forces them off campus. Financial aid recipients who move into apartments are guaranteed funds that incorporate the cost of on-campus housing, but such compensation is often insufficient to cover local rents.
In reinstating the Office of Off-Campus Housing earlier this year, the University took a step toward remedying the problem. The office is a valuable resource that students should utilize to locate affordable off-campus apartments, but it could do more. Tufts, meanwhile, could use the office to connect students with property owners whose houses are slightly beyond the immediate campus perimeter and not always discovered by apartment seekers. In exchange for Tufts' advertising their apartments, the landlords would concede to maintain high safety standards and reasonable rents.
But without changing the date for the release of lottery numbers, the work of the off-campus housing office cannot sufficiently solve student difficulties. Until Tufts changes the lottery date, students forced off campus who cannot afford apartment rents should be compensated for all housing costs, including utilities. And even if the lottery date is moved forward and students' financial aid packages are adjusted appropriately, the Financial Aid Office, Residential Life, and the Office of Off-Campus Housing should continue to explore other remedies to housing woes. Students should not be unnecessarily financially burdened because chance has assigned them a poor lottery number.
