Living on campus has its many perks: no commute, no parking struggle, living close to friends and more. But with the price of room and board, has the cost of doing laundry on campus gotten out of hand? Many students on campus think so.
The price per one washer or dryer use has gone up from $1 to $1.25 since last semester, which has raised concerns amongst students. Gisselle Killian, a sophomore nursing major, said, “Last year it was a dollar, so everyone flipped when they raised it this year. It’s like the freshmen don’t know better but all the upperclassmen are mad about it. Even worse, people leave their stuff all the time and are disrespectful about taking other people’s clothes out too. So along with that, the prices are just unreasonable.”
Abby Kriebel, a freshman English major, has a similar opinion of the laundry services on campus. “My first time doing laundry, the machine was actually out of order. The dryer was so bad I actually had to pay $5 for my clothes to fully dry and the rest I had to hang up around my room. I just wish it was easier.”
More importantly, Kriebel is concerned about her money. “I had to go to the Commons in the middle of doing my laundry to take out money, because it was more than I though it’d be. I don’t think it’s necessary to charge that much,” she said. “I think they need to check the machines and dryers routinely to make sure they work, so I’m not paying even more than I have to.”
Emma Frank, a senior environmental science major, lives in the apartments on campus. “We’re down to two washing machines in the apartments because the others don’t work,” says Frank. “The bumped up prices this year aren’t insane, but it adds up over time.”
The opinions of students seem mostly consistent. Preston Scantlebury, a freshman environmental science major, thought he came prepared for laundry duty. “I actually brought a ton of quarters with me at the beginning of the semester knowing I would need them for laundry and I’m already down to like half of them.”
Scantlebury says he was surprised at how quickly the cost adds up. “I think it should be a lot cheaper. It should be like, 75 cents. I don’t have the money to do laundry as much as I wish I could anymore.”
While the cost of doing laundry hasn’t gone up by much, it appears the main concern on campus is that it will continue to rise. In addition to tuition, room and board and dining plans, are the laundry services on campus taking too much of our money?
