A private theater. A gym with floor-to-ceiling windows. An in-ground pool.
Not to mention a leather couch, where James Capparuccini can play Grand Theft Auto V whenever he chooses.
These are the perks of off-campus living, Capparuccini, a junior studying accounting, said. He lives at the Summit at Coates Run, 363 Richland Ave.
But some of the off-campus housing decisions students make — opting for more privacy, nicer amenities and, in some cases, prime locations — could affect their future as consumers in the housing market, studies show, by plummeting them into debt.
Capparuccini said he is using his financial aid to ease the costs of living at the Summit and has taken out one loan. His share of the rent is $605 a month and he expects to be $10,000 in debt when he graduates.
But these kinds of decisions, some say, are more a young person’s natural yearning for independence than it is a wise budgeting decision.
“It’s a debate. Most off-campus leasing opportunities are for the entire year,” said Jneanne Hacker, associate director for Residential Housing at Ohio University. “With on-campus housing, students are only responsible for fall and spring and it includes utilities.
“If students factor the cost of staying off-campus ... there’s a minimal cost savings once you equate the extra cost of living.”
The cheapest on-campus option at OU, a triple or a quad, costs $5,454 for two semesters. That’s about $9 more than what Capparuccini would pay a year, based on his current monthly rent payments.
Capparuccini said he chose the Summit because he just “needed a place to live,” though he did note he’s paying for “nicer, bigger, cleaner, everything.”
Borrowing money for housing while in school can prevent you from getting a place of your own down the road, according to a recent study by the American Student Assistance. The study shows 75 percent of graduates said their student debt and past borrowing burdened them to the point where they had difficulty purchasing a home after leaving campus.
Hacker said moving off-campus becomes a sort of right-of-passage for the students, who are thrust into the world of budgeting this way.
“There’s a whole lot of value in gaining that level of independence by moving residential facilities,” Hacker said. “There are students who have to manage those student loans to make those ends meet just to move off campus, and I understand that decision.”
Scott Hunter, co-owner of Athens Ohio Rentals, said students tend to want housing around Court Street, a pricier part of town. Though containing less benefits, housing there provides more freedom, he said.
“Students want the houses because they get the entire thing to themselves, there’s better privacy,” Hunter said. “But it’s a personal choice.”
Janice Brewer, a sophomore transfer student studying environmental nutrition, said she is using her Chase student loans to assist her in paying her $450 rent to live in a house on Franklin Avenue.
“People shouldn’t take out loans to live in the nicer buildings,” Brewer said. “It’s not worth it.”
But pricier apartment complexes are worth it — whether or not it puts you in debt — Capparucini said, though he added that he wishes the Summit would cut back on some of its more extravagant amenities to lower costs.
“I haven’t been to the theater,” he said. “If they cut that to make rent cheaper, I’d be happy about it.”
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