Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 1 - 66

Deposit-Based Housing Selection
HOUSING SELECTION PRIORITY based on monetary deposit is a practice
that colleges and universities across the United States utilize to manage student
housing assignment processes. However, this system perpetuates racial,
socioeconomic, and other historically oppressive ideological institutions. The
prioritization of deposits ranging from $50 USD to $800 USD for the purpose of
securing placement in a campus housing selection queue fosters gentrification
and segregates those with the ability to select into spaces that are newly
renovated and held in higher regard and those who must choose from fewer,
often unrenovated or undesirable rooms or find themselves with no housing at
all. Within the context of higher education, all practices and systems must fall
under the universal mission of learning and development. Therefore, institutions
that require students to reside on campus for any number of years and emphasize
their residential experiences as central to students' holistic development and
sense of belonging must consider the significant negative impact of prioritizing
placement based on a monetary value. It is the responsibility of college and
university administration to scrutinize how the means of addressing lack of
funding for higher education, resulting in harmful practices born from monetary
need and neoliberal pressure, perpetuate systems of oppression rather than
interrupting or challenging the status quo. Critical examination and intentional
reimagination of current practices can develop new systems to maintain the
financial well-being of the institution as well as serve students equitably.
M
any institutions of higher education throughout the United States rely on
housing deposits as a way of prioritizing housing selection times for their
on-campus students. This deposit-based housing selection (DBHS) model
requires a student to pay an often non-refundable deposit before they are eligible for
room selection. Essentially, the earlier a student submits their payment, the earlier they
can select a space on campus. Based on anecdotal university site research, these deposit
amounts vary considerably at institutions across the nation, ranging from $50 USD
to $800 USD. Because the DBHS housing selection model allows a student with the
ability to pay a housing deposit earlier-and thus obtain an earlier place in the queue
for room selection-these students often select the popular choices: newly renovated
halls or those with better amenities. However, a student who pays later for any number
of reasons is left to select from spaces in often unrenovated or undesirable spaces or, in
some cases, to get no room assignment at all.
Thus, the DBHS model actively rewards a student who can afford to submit this
payment sooner, which is almost always due significantly prior to the disbursement of
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Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 1
