Some grad students and families must choose pricey new campus housing or even pricier places in town.This story is part of The Salt Lake Tribune’s ongoing commitment to identify solutions to Utah’s biggest challenges through the work of the Innovation Lab.
Kok continued his research, which he described as, “focusing on different theoretical models for parasite research or parasite epidemiology,” as his partner worked part time at a preschool. He is just one of many U. graduate students who won’t be able to afford the new housing on campus. Apartments available off campus areWhile a relatively small portion of the U.’s grad students live in the below-market apartments on campus, their plight sheds light on the precarity of students, especially those with families, attempting to survive off meager stipends in an increasingly unaffordable city.
“It is likely there are some students that are going to have to go off campus because the new rates don’t work for their budget,” Reed said. “And that’s why we tried to give so much notice so that students had time to make those plans.” “We hope that they’ll do something to help the students,” said Blake Billings, mayor of University Student Apartments resident council and a PhD student in chemical engineering.
Ava Anjom and Mehdi Eskandari-Ghadi, who organized the petition, say they’ve received 158 signatures so far. But, Reed continued, if the U. were to grandfather some graduate students into the new buildings at their older rental prices, this “provides a subsidy to some students that isn’t provided to others so we need to be careful about what sort of aid we’re providing based on circumstance.”“We’re trying to come up with a list of solutions,” Billings said. Increasing grad student stipends so they can actually afford rents on and off campus is one option.
“We have to do better than that,” Kieda said. “We have to have more funds available and [give students] the ability to not live so close to the edge.”