From the brick "dungeons" of Haskell and Wren, the cockroaches of Carmichael, to the spacious, brand-new suites of Sophia Gordon, Tufts students living on campus reside in a wide variety of dorms.
But the price tag is the same across the board - one rate for doubles, one rate for singles.
"Within our housing system we have two different room rates," Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) Director Yolanda King wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "One is for multiple occupancy and one for single occupancy."
Even Sophia Gordon Hall does not come at a higher price.
With changes occurring in Tufts' on-campus residential choices, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman is determined to prevent price from becoming a factor in housing.
"I feel that [uniform housing costs are] important to maintain so that availability is not based on students' ability to afford it, but rather the lottery we use and seniority," he said.
Reitman admits that Sophia Gordon Hall is superior to other dormitories on campus."There's a lot going on for Sophia that the other places don't have," Reitman said.
"Since Sophia Gordon is the newest hall, we were able to offer some different amenities such as dishwashers," King said, as recommended by the Facilities Department.
Reitman said he was so concerned with students envying Sophia Gordon residents that certain features, including year-round air conditioning, were not included.
While Sophia Gordon is air conditioned in the summer months for conference occupants who use the space, the cooling system would also have been affordable during the year. Reitman opted against that.
"It would be unfortunate to have one building that was air conditioned when we have one housing rate," Reitman said.
Other schools in the Boston area, however, do have a tiered housing system, with costs reflecting variations among dorms. Such schools include Boston University (BU) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Peter Cummings, the Associate Director of Finance in the Dean of Student Life's office at MIT, explained that the range of housing prices is "very broad."
The eleven MIT dorms are divided into three price categories such that there are three different prices for singles and three for doubles, he said.
The price ranges are based upon the perceived value of the dorm room, primarily determined by the building's age.
"I don't know how much [price differences] contribute to a student's decision-making," Cummings said. "Price between ranges has never been brought up as an issue."
Reitman saw a multi-tiered price system at Tufts as problematic.
"Namely, it's a stretch for a lot of people to come to Tufts," he said. "Once they get here I think everyone should be given the same opportunities whether it's for dining plans, housing options, or academic programs."
He addressed the difficulty of establishing tiered housing prices. "I know there's inequity, but how do you [determine] that? On kitchens? On square footage? On level of custodial service?"
Room transfers would also be vastly complicated by a system of tiered pricing, Reitman said.
Rather than changing Tufts' uniform system, Reitman and the Office of Student Life are doing all they can to maintain the utmost level of equality.
For example, in the past, co-op dorms such as Hillsides and Latin Way were not serviced by OneSource employees. This year, however, all suite-style dorms, including Sophia Gordon, receive custodial services.
"The only thing that doesn't get cleaned [are the] kitchens - because most dorms don't have them," Reitman said.
Price doesn't even factor in with students who end up with the short end of the housing bargain. "When people are in rooms that have facilities difficulties or when first-year students are in triples because of a too-large class, even then we don't change the cost of the room," Reitman said. "Instead we reward them in lottery advantage points that in essence give them first pick for the following year."
Tufts students living in older dormitories said that a multi-tiered price system for housing would make sense on some levels. Sophomores Ali Jafri and Bharath Potti live on a healthy living floor in Carmichael Hall.
The roommates had wanted to live in a non-healthy living floor in Carmichael, but their lottery number was too low. They chose to live in the healthy living floor instead of Wren.
"We didn't want to live in healthy living, but we would rather live here than in Wren, which would have been terrible," Potti said. "[A multi-tiered price system] would make sense."
Jafri had never considered the idea of paying less to live in less desirable dorms.
"It makes sense, but it would be a problem with financial aid students and it might not always be fair," Jafri said. "I don't really care that my room and board is the same as someone living in Sophia Gordon. I look at it as paying for the necessities you get for living on campus, regardless of how nice it is."
Reitman hopes that the older, less desirable dorms will soon be spruced up, though he admits this process is difficult.
"Its easier to re-use money for a new structure than it is to have donations come in for refurbishing, which has to come from operative budget," he said.
Reitman still stands by the current equality in housing costs, however. "It's one rate for everybody to live on campus, and I believe in that."
