The Costs of Living On Campus vs. Off-Campus in NYC
As many people will tell you, colleges are costly. This is especially true if a student is planning on going to a university New York City. Here, the typical cost of basic living is impressively higher than the national average.
Housing costs, specifically, can be incredibly high in NYC. As a result, students coming to live in the city might be mulling over which choice offers more saving: on-campus or off-campus NYC housing.
On-Campus vs. Off-Campus: An Overview
According to recent research, the costs of students living on-campus for the colleges outside of Manhattan are relatively more expensive than living off-campus. Additionally, there are the higher market-rate rents of the student neighborhoods encompassing NYU, Columbia, Pace, and Hunter (all schools within Manhattan). This means off-campus living is the pricier choice. It was likewise found that the differentiation in rent costs for on-campus housing were a considerably smaller range when contrasted with off-campus market costs.
Calculating Costs of On-Campus vs. Off-Campus Student Living
Comparing on-campus and off-campus, it is wisest to look at the cost of single rooms. Start with renting an on-campus single room apartment. Then, contrast that with the average cost of living in a private room off-campus.
For instance, if a student intends to live in a 2-room flat, we expect that total rent for the apartment is split equally between two flatmates. For studio and 1-room flats, it’s assumed that the student will be living without any flatmate.
Off-campus housing costs are figured in the neighborhoods where the campus is found and the encompassing neighborhoods. At New York University (NYU), for instance, the off-campus housing cost was figured for rental postings in Greenwich Village (where the campus is situated). It took in additional surrounding areas like Chelsea, the East Village, and Soho
What’s Cheaper: On-Campus vs. Off-Campus in NYC
The research found that for schools situated in Manhattan, on-campus lodging is extensively more affordable than the cost of an off-campus apartment. For instance, take an NYU student that lives in a single room on campus. The normal month to month housing cost is $2,028. Comparatively, the median off-campus lodging cost is $2,650. This results in a month to month contrast of $622 a month and $7,464 a year.
Then look at Hunter College’s Brookdale residence hall. The normal month to month appraise here is 70 percent less expensive than living off-campus.
On-campus housing at universities situated outside of Manhattan has a tendency to be more costly than off-campus housing. Generally speaking, it’s less expensive to live on campus in moderately high-rent regions. It’s less expensive to live off campus in areas where low market demand means rent is cheaper.
It is vital for students and their families to analyze the cost of renting a home in surrounding neighborhoods, and to compare on-campus vs. off-campus housing. If you’re a student in New York City, Short Term Rentals NYC makes the search easier with a database of off-campus housing situated in ideal locations. You don’t have to sacrifice convenience for cost if you find the right off-campus apartment.