During the next few months, students hoping to live close to campus next school year will start looking for a place to call home.

Unfortunately, most students will have difficulty finding an affordable, standard apartment located reasonably close to campus. Monthly rent for luxury apartments is not realistically priced for a typical college student. Ricardo McCurley, the neighborhood coordinator for the Southeast Como Improvement Association, said, “At some point, a luxury apartment building isn’t going to fill up, and that’s when they will stop building them.”

The Minnesota Student Association’s Facilities, Housing and Transit Committee is teaming up with students working toward more affordable housing options on campus.

Jerod Groenisen, an at-large representative for MSA says, “The problem with luxury housing buildings is that there are so many of them, and now students have to take loans out to afford them.”

The MSA committee is in the process of creating a “renter’s survey” that will serve as a platform for students to compare housing costs and narrow their search down to the developments they can afford. The survey will be a tool students can use to connect with their landlords, understand their potential neighborhood dynamic and make the cost of living more transparent by highlighting expenses.

The University of Minnesota should make affordable housing a top priority so students aren’t forced to spend more money on top of tuition. The University needs to become a larger presence of the housing market in the campus area and provide more reasonable housing options for students.