Fears Undergraduates Choose Where To Study Based On Cost of Halls: The cost of the cheapest university rooms has risen by 11% over the last ten years, leading to fears that undergraduates are choosing where to study based on the cost of university halls, rather than the quality of the teaching or reputation for research.

Figures collected by The Guardian newspaper, which show the price of the cheapest student rooms  at 80 universities for both last year and two years ago, show that on average students staying in university halls were paying £2,980 in 2010-11. By 2012-13, this figure had risen to £3,301. These figures are for a room within a university hall of residence – although in some cases it does also include breakfast and/or supper.

Fears Undergraduates Choose Where To Study Based On Cost of Halls

Among the largest increased in rent was the London School of Economics – with the cost of its cheapest room offering rising by £1,263 over the three year period. The minimum overall cost to LSE students last year was £4,282 to stay in university accommodation, although the university did state that meals had been introduced as part of a compulsory package tenants must take on.

Similarly, the University of Bradford, which has just constructed a more sustainable ‘student village’, has seen prices for its cheapest room rocket from £2,772 in 2010-11 to £3,906 last year. The University of Bradford said it had increased the length of its housing contracts, which increased the overall cost of the contracts proportionally.

Among the most expensive ‘budget’ student housing was St. George’s University of London – charging a minimum of £5,500 per year for its most inexpensive rooms. This marks an increase of £880 on the cost from three years previous. However, a spokeswoman for St. George’s said that rents had been frozen for next year, and explained that the university offered a £3,000 scholarship to students with a household income of less than £25,000.

Colum McGuire, Vice-President of the National Union of Students (NUS) suggested that the figures may mean that students are forced to select their institution based on the affordability of housing rather than teaching standards and academic rigour. He said:

“Students are now making choices about where they study, not based on what’s right for them, but on whether they can afford to live there.”