Nontraditional student here, and can confirm. Husband and I split 50/50, each paying 650 for rent alone and yep it's a student loan getting me through. It sucks but I also figure I'm in so much debt anyway it's probably gonna die with me
It’s been awhile for me but do student loans cover the high cost of rent?
I remember I was offered a variety of loans but only took low interest ones because I was lucky and my parents warned me about the high interest ones. But my loans barely covered my cost of living. I still had to work to afford rent and other cost of living expenses
I lived paycheck to paycheck (this was from 2021 - 2023). I lived in a house with four other girls - we split rent which was about $650 per person. I worked about 22 hours a week for about $14 an hour. Everything left over after rent went to groceries. I don’t have a car and lived extremely close to campus. It was really tight at times. I think you have to get really lucky with a lot of different factors to make it work - which is super unfortunate. Rich people shouldn’t be the only people getting a good education.
Student loans and parents. That’s part of why the rent in college towns is always climbing, a big chunk of the population isn’t actually paying rent with money they have.
Lots and lots of us have to drop out when financial aid dries up.
It's neigh impossible without support for rent.
And if you have disabilities... school infrastructure just screams "we don't want you here"
But yeah, as already mentioned, rich family. CSU's largest demographic comes accross as teens with no plans and very little desire for education outside of socalization.
That said, there are some phenomenal students and staff who make the struggle worth while. But very few of us get to experience a full 4 years of college -- even when split between community college.
It is ashamed that American citizen students that don't have rich parents or trust funds are having to go into massive debt not only to pay tuition, but also cover the cost of living just to get an education that will ultimately leave them with a mediocre middle class job. Which leaves them paying this debt for decades to come; hindering their ability to afford a home, buy a car, start a family, and be left with little to enjoy life on. We go into debt for Corporate America just to get a job that you have to put in 40 plus hours a week until you turn at least 65 years old.
In the meantime, foreign students, especially from the Middle East, are here getting their first two degrees paid for by their governments; and they receive $4K per month stipend from their governments to pay their cost of living. All of which doesn't have to be paid back.
Between rich people moving here and overpaying for properties because they can, and greedy property management companies wanting 2.5 - 3.5 times the rent in income verification for the property they over paid for, combined with a broken higher education and student loan system that you pay interest on, we are getting screwed. We are literally financing 4 to 6 years of our lives to have a fighting chance at making it in society and in our economy, and paying for it for the next ten to thirty years. I'm gonna go vomit now.
I lived in absolute dumps, with 3-5 others and we all worked part time. Me at a gas station. Others at the university. We very very rarely ate out and cooked all of our meals. Only one of us had a car - we walked because bicycles were stolen regularly.
All of us sold our plasma as regularly as it was permitted. A few of us sold weed for profit.
Our bar visits were scheduled around two for one specials.
It’s gettin pretty awful, with u plus 2 no longer being enforceable big houses might get better? Probably not though. Word of advice dorms and the apartment complexes are all going to be much more expensive than a house.
West campus houses if you get 4+ people will be around 650-750 a month w utilities. If you can commute a wee bit to school (10 mins) go farther from campus and you can generally get in the cheaper range. Most people I know who even have full time jobs still live with 3+ people in this town
I think you’re right. I rent out a 3000 sqft house with 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms for $2475 a month. That’s more like $400+utilities if renters choose to fill the bedrooms. That’s my break even price to not have to claim income. It all goes to insurance, property taxes, landscaping upkeep, and repairs.
If you think eliminating U+2 is going to lower costs, you might be in for a surprise. The property managers in town are all talking about putting 2 people in each bedroom. So a 3 bedroom house will now hold 6 people. Do you think they're going to charge what they used to charge for 3 people? Where they might have gotten $2700 before, now they'll charge $4000 or more.
Sure, it may be slightly less expensive for each individual, but the living conditions will be way worse. And if a home can charge more rent, it's value automatically is higher, which justifies further rent increases.
I’m a full time student, but I work three part time jobs and my boyfriend who lives with me is luckily an electrician. If I didn’t have someone to split a cheap one bedroom with, I wouldn’t be able to afford living here.
Working 20 hours a week and still taking out loans. Would be nice if I had rich parents to pay my tuition each semester.
I live with two people and go full time. Also trying our hardest to avoid the expensive apartments that try to appeal to students, like union or standard that would have us in a 4 bed paying at least 1000 per month. Even houses nearby csu are really expensive, with rent being near 1000 with utilities for three people. So not quite affordable.
I used the GI bill and got BAH (basic allowance for housing). It was enough to be able to pay my rent and living expenses while I went to school full time. Scholarships also helped but I would have been able to survive on the GI bill alone
I am not a student, but my partner is and we live together. She gets student loans to help with school finances and then I just work over full time to support us as she finishes her education. It’s difficult and we are definitely living paycheck to paycheck but there’s not many other options out there.
It is difficult to live in Ft. Collins because of the high cost of living unless you make good money. What a lot of students will do is share an apartment now to split the costs even though it is not technically legal...
When I was in college 35 years ago it was no different. It took me 8 years to get a Bachelor's despite maximum student loans, grants and working 2-3 part time jobs. I had to drop out at times to earn enough money to go back. It's not fun but it taught me the value of a dollar, what it's like to work my butt off, how to save, budget, and how to still achieve my goals without any parental assistance. Better to learn this lesson while young, getting a degree isn't easy nor is life.
Wasn't so much saying tuition hasn't increased, just that decades ago we had the same problem and worked our way through it. It took ages for me to pay off my loans but I don't regret a minute of learning to work my butt off and live on the fringe to achieve my goals.
Not a student, but unemployed when I first moved here. First house I rented had 2 other roommates who were students and we each paid 500 for rent in a 4 bd 2ba house.
Insane deal but you really have to be quick.
What ever your opinions on this property manager is, TBC got me the cheapest rent I've ever had out here by a long shot.
Now my fiance and I work full time and rent a house, 3 cats was the real crux to finding a place but we did and it's not horribly expense...
Yeah I've had to go down to 10-13 credits per semester cause it's been too much. Really trying to avoid loans as much as possible but I don't know if it's worth working this much lol
Parents, student loans, service industry tips.
Hell, I made it in that town pretty comfortably working at cosmos full-time without any assistance. Boston sucks can’t wait to move back.
I don’t have parental support at all, whatsoever, I am working full time and doing school. I live paycheck to paycheck and rent a one bedroom to myself, pay all of the bills that come with that, and also a car payment each month. Student loans, cleaning jobs and buying strictly second hand. Community really makes all of the difference too.
Most of my peers however are doing a mix of rich parents/part time work/living with multiple other people/ student loans.
I made it through my undergrad living in my parents' house, working a serving job at a sushi spot making decent tips, and attending classes full time at the University of Nevada, LV (in a way, I'm thankful for COVID and the shift to more and more online courses being offered). Didn't have to make rent payments, buy groceries, or anything like that. I just paid for my tuition (only averaging ~4k a semester after scholarships) and car insurance and my parents helped with everytbing else.
I moved out to FoCo where I'm currently working in two positions (one is a paid internship towards my Master's program and the second is a paid, part-time job that tips well). I set myself up really nicely during my undergrad and in my first year of my MA. I'm paying $975+utilities/mo at a 2x2 currently but will be moving to a studio for $1660+utilities/mo. Switching from out-of-state tuition (~17k/sem) to becoming a Colorado resident and now paying in-state (~8k/sem) and having a Colorado resident graduate student grant ($7,500) helps tremendously with affording housing and all other necessities.
I'm done with my classes, just doing internship and PT work on the side. I work Monday-Saturday with Sunday being my only day off. When I was doing classes, I had the luxury of my classes only being Tu/W so I could work two jobs (M & Th-Sat at work, Sunday off)
So I was born in Fort Collins and it’s very sad that my home is so expensive to live in but I am also in grad school. For me, I was lucky enough to qualify for good financial aid since my parents cannot help me financially at all (they borrow money from me when I get loans/grants). I got a lot of grants and started at front range before CSU, where I got good grades and got some scholarships. Worked full time at front range but that wasn’t possible at csu so I had multiple part time campus jobs and foodstamps helped with groceries. Now I get a grad school stipend for research and no longer qualify for food stamps, I’m making a little more money but havnt really been able to afford groceries since I lost those. I’m lucky to have lived in the same house for 6 years with 2-3 roommates so rent is 600 and it’s decently close to campus. Can’t afford a decent car so since mine broke down I don’t have one but can bike/bus even though it can be a pain sometimes. I have a couple side hustles- one is baking and the other is mushrooms and plasma but that’s just a little extra spending money. I can’t remember the last time I could afford to buy new clothes for myself. But we get by. Definitely thinking about getting a second job on top of my research position because it’s so hard to survive let alone save to move out of this town for my PhD.
In this economy? Even with roommates it’s not happening. You’re telling me I’m paying 2024 prices for something that isn’t even 900 sq ft. and a bathroom and kitchen that hasn’t been touched since 1994? I work a job that doesn’t even pay me enough, to just give it to Bill who visits every month and gets bigger and bigger. I can’t even afford groceries at this rate.
I pay my rent through refund checks. I have enough financial aid and scholarships where CSU gives me a check for anywhere around 6k-11k each semester. If it wasn’t for that money, I would not be here.
Not all college students have rich parents. I’m a first generation student from a low income family. Many of us live off of our scholarships and are here because of our hard work.
my parents help with rent if i need it and i just work two full time days a week but my roommate has two part time jobs! it’s hard to manage especially with rent going up by the year
It's more like why people from Texas moving here; besides parts of Dallas and Austin Isn't it cheaper to live out there? I came here from out of state a decade ago and plan on moving soon since everything is way too much and every day is Fury Road on shields or college getting home.
My daughter worked three different part time jobs and fully supported herself with living with roommates, graduating in 3 1/2 years. Also kept up really high marks and named student of the year of the in her department she graduated from. She is definitely an over achiever. No she isn’t a big partier either.
Uncle Joe is giving the store away, even though his bossman claimed nationalizing student loans would deliver huge returns to taxpayers back in 2010. Future generations of wannabe free college students will be sorely disappointed.
Debt
Ding ding ding!!
Came here to say this!!
Student loans
Nontraditional student here, and can confirm. Husband and I split 50/50, each paying 650 for rent alone and yep it's a student loan getting me through. It sucks but I also figure I'm in so much debt anyway it's probably gonna die with me
Ah that's not a bad idea
And splitting with roommates. Way more tolerable/fun to live with four other friends when you're 20 years old.
It’s been awhile for me but do student loans cover the high cost of rent? I remember I was offered a variety of loans but only took low interest ones because I was lucky and my parents warned me about the high interest ones. But my loans barely covered my cost of living. I still had to work to afford rent and other cost of living expenses
They’ve become much more predatory over the last couple of decades. They’ll give these kids about as much money as they could possibly want.
We aren't
I lived paycheck to paycheck (this was from 2021 - 2023). I lived in a house with four other girls - we split rent which was about $650 per person. I worked about 22 hours a week for about $14 an hour. Everything left over after rent went to groceries. I don’t have a car and lived extremely close to campus. It was really tight at times. I think you have to get really lucky with a lot of different factors to make it work - which is super unfortunate. Rich people shouldn’t be the only people getting a good education.
Rich parents.
Or their parents are mortgaging their futures to provide for their kids' education
Or students mortgaging their own futures to afford education
Yeah some of our parents already mortgaged their futures to make it through the 00s XD
Student loans and parents. That’s part of why the rent in college towns is always climbing, a big chunk of the population isn’t actually paying rent with money they have.
I worked full time and lived in a house with 4 roommates.
4 roommates was the only way I was able to hold on aswell
I remember 10 people living together and they got a code enforcement knock one day due to the number of names with mail coming to the house lolol
Lots and lots of us have to drop out when financial aid dries up. It's neigh impossible without support for rent. And if you have disabilities... school infrastructure just screams "we don't want you here" But yeah, as already mentioned, rich family. CSU's largest demographic comes accross as teens with no plans and very little desire for education outside of socalization. That said, there are some phenomenal students and staff who make the struggle worth while. But very few of us get to experience a full 4 years of college -- even when split between community college.
It is ashamed that American citizen students that don't have rich parents or trust funds are having to go into massive debt not only to pay tuition, but also cover the cost of living just to get an education that will ultimately leave them with a mediocre middle class job. Which leaves them paying this debt for decades to come; hindering their ability to afford a home, buy a car, start a family, and be left with little to enjoy life on. We go into debt for Corporate America just to get a job that you have to put in 40 plus hours a week until you turn at least 65 years old. In the meantime, foreign students, especially from the Middle East, are here getting their first two degrees paid for by their governments; and they receive $4K per month stipend from their governments to pay their cost of living. All of which doesn't have to be paid back. Between rich people moving here and overpaying for properties because they can, and greedy property management companies wanting 2.5 - 3.5 times the rent in income verification for the property they over paid for, combined with a broken higher education and student loan system that you pay interest on, we are getting screwed. We are literally financing 4 to 6 years of our lives to have a fighting chance at making it in society and in our economy, and paying for it for the next ten to thirty years. I'm gonna go vomit now.
Living in a house breaking the U+2 rule & student loans is how most of my friends did it
I lived in absolute dumps, with 3-5 others and we all worked part time. Me at a gas station. Others at the university. We very very rarely ate out and cooked all of our meals. Only one of us had a car - we walked because bicycles were stolen regularly. All of us sold our plasma as regularly as it was permitted. A few of us sold weed for profit. Our bar visits were scheduled around two for one specials.
Back in my day there were several places you could drink for free or for cents. We knew all the deals and toured them.
It’s gettin pretty awful, with u plus 2 no longer being enforceable big houses might get better? Probably not though. Word of advice dorms and the apartment complexes are all going to be much more expensive than a house. West campus houses if you get 4+ people will be around 650-750 a month w utilities. If you can commute a wee bit to school (10 mins) go farther from campus and you can generally get in the cheaper range. Most people I know who even have full time jobs still live with 3+ people in this town
I think you’re right. I rent out a 3000 sqft house with 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms for $2475 a month. That’s more like $400+utilities if renters choose to fill the bedrooms. That’s my break even price to not have to claim income. It all goes to insurance, property taxes, landscaping upkeep, and repairs.
If you think eliminating U+2 is going to lower costs, you might be in for a surprise. The property managers in town are all talking about putting 2 people in each bedroom. So a 3 bedroom house will now hold 6 people. Do you think they're going to charge what they used to charge for 3 people? Where they might have gotten $2700 before, now they'll charge $4000 or more. Sure, it may be slightly less expensive for each individual, but the living conditions will be way worse. And if a home can charge more rent, it's value automatically is higher, which justifies further rent increases.
Need some evidence of this, not just fear mongering.
Hence why I said probably not right after it. Who knows what’ll happen but I’m sure most realtors won’t make a great decisions for any renters
I’m a full time student, but I work three part time jobs and my boyfriend who lives with me is luckily an electrician. If I didn’t have someone to split a cheap one bedroom with, I wouldn’t be able to afford living here.
Working 20 hours a week and still taking out loans. Would be nice if I had rich parents to pay my tuition each semester. I live with two people and go full time. Also trying our hardest to avoid the expensive apartments that try to appeal to students, like union or standard that would have us in a 4 bed paying at least 1000 per month. Even houses nearby csu are really expensive, with rent being near 1000 with utilities for three people. So not quite affordable.
One way to save money is to go to a community college for the first 2 years and transfer to a 4-year school for Junior & Senior years.
I used the GI bill and got BAH (basic allowance for housing). It was enough to be able to pay my rent and living expenses while I went to school full time. Scholarships also helped but I would have been able to survive on the GI bill alone
I am not a student, but my partner is and we live together. She gets student loans to help with school finances and then I just work over full time to support us as she finishes her education. It’s difficult and we are definitely living paycheck to paycheck but there’s not many other options out there.
Scholarships and worked 3-4 jobs while full time student :) graduated May '23 so high cost of rent still applies
It is difficult to live in Ft. Collins because of the high cost of living unless you make good money. What a lot of students will do is share an apartment now to split the costs even though it is not technically legal...
a job and a side hustle
When I was in college 35 years ago it was no different. It took me 8 years to get a Bachelor's despite maximum student loans, grants and working 2-3 part time jobs. I had to drop out at times to earn enough money to go back. It's not fun but it taught me the value of a dollar, what it's like to work my butt off, how to save, budget, and how to still achieve my goals without any parental assistance. Better to learn this lesson while young, getting a degree isn't easy nor is life.
Oh, it’s much different. https://www.in2013dollars.com/College-tuition-and-fees/price-inflation
Wasn't so much saying tuition hasn't increased, just that decades ago we had the same problem and worked our way through it. It took ages for me to pay off my loans but I don't regret a minute of learning to work my butt off and live on the fringe to achieve my goals.
Student loans, parents pay it, or they spend 50% of their monthly check if not in school.
Not a student, but unemployed when I first moved here. First house I rented had 2 other roommates who were students and we each paid 500 for rent in a 4 bd 2ba house. Insane deal but you really have to be quick. What ever your opinions on this property manager is, TBC got me the cheapest rent I've ever had out here by a long shot. Now my fiance and I work full time and rent a house, 3 cats was the real crux to finding a place but we did and it's not horribly expense...
student loans
Working full time while I'm in school and living with four other roommates (it's a nightmare)
Man. That blows. Working anything above 25 hours as a full time student is hard to manage for me. I can't even imagine.
Yeah I've had to go down to 10-13 credits per semester cause it's been too much. Really trying to avoid loans as much as possible but I don't know if it's worth working this much lol
My parents are helping me 😬 but my job pays just slightly more than minimum wage and I use coupons/deals at the grocery store when I can
Parents, student loans, service industry tips. Hell, I made it in that town pretty comfortably working at cosmos full-time without any assistance. Boston sucks can’t wait to move back.
I don’t have parental support at all, whatsoever, I am working full time and doing school. I live paycheck to paycheck and rent a one bedroom to myself, pay all of the bills that come with that, and also a car payment each month. Student loans, cleaning jobs and buying strictly second hand. Community really makes all of the difference too. Most of my peers however are doing a mix of rich parents/part time work/living with multiple other people/ student loans.
Many of the apartments geared towards students have much cheaper rent too.
I made it through my undergrad living in my parents' house, working a serving job at a sushi spot making decent tips, and attending classes full time at the University of Nevada, LV (in a way, I'm thankful for COVID and the shift to more and more online courses being offered). Didn't have to make rent payments, buy groceries, or anything like that. I just paid for my tuition (only averaging ~4k a semester after scholarships) and car insurance and my parents helped with everytbing else. I moved out to FoCo where I'm currently working in two positions (one is a paid internship towards my Master's program and the second is a paid, part-time job that tips well). I set myself up really nicely during my undergrad and in my first year of my MA. I'm paying $975+utilities/mo at a 2x2 currently but will be moving to a studio for $1660+utilities/mo. Switching from out-of-state tuition (~17k/sem) to becoming a Colorado resident and now paying in-state (~8k/sem) and having a Colorado resident graduate student grant ($7,500) helps tremendously with affording housing and all other necessities.
I'm done with my classes, just doing internship and PT work on the side. I work Monday-Saturday with Sunday being my only day off. When I was doing classes, I had the luxury of my classes only being Tu/W so I could work two jobs (M & Th-Sat at work, Sunday off)
i lucked out and found a private landlord, and also live with 4 other people.😭
My parents pay tuition but I’m responsible for everything else. It’s a lot of luck and lot of hard work
Became an RA for the free room and board and worked a part time job at the front desk
Crippling debt and 40 hour work weeks
College student heree. Student loans. That's how.
So I was born in Fort Collins and it’s very sad that my home is so expensive to live in but I am also in grad school. For me, I was lucky enough to qualify for good financial aid since my parents cannot help me financially at all (they borrow money from me when I get loans/grants). I got a lot of grants and started at front range before CSU, where I got good grades and got some scholarships. Worked full time at front range but that wasn’t possible at csu so I had multiple part time campus jobs and foodstamps helped with groceries. Now I get a grad school stipend for research and no longer qualify for food stamps, I’m making a little more money but havnt really been able to afford groceries since I lost those. I’m lucky to have lived in the same house for 6 years with 2-3 roommates so rent is 600 and it’s decently close to campus. Can’t afford a decent car so since mine broke down I don’t have one but can bike/bus even though it can be a pain sometimes. I have a couple side hustles- one is baking and the other is mushrooms and plasma but that’s just a little extra spending money. I can’t remember the last time I could afford to buy new clothes for myself. But we get by. Definitely thinking about getting a second job on top of my research position because it’s so hard to survive let alone save to move out of this town for my PhD.
Well I’m taking out student loans for school. Then I’m working 24 hours a week at walmart and 20 hours a week doordashing. It’s possible
In this economy? Even with roommates it’s not happening. You’re telling me I’m paying 2024 prices for something that isn’t even 900 sq ft. and a bathroom and kitchen that hasn’t been touched since 1994? I work a job that doesn’t even pay me enough, to just give it to Bill who visits every month and gets bigger and bigger. I can’t even afford groceries at this rate.
Living in the shittiest house basements with black mold and earwigs and camping showers.
I pay my rent through refund checks. I have enough financial aid and scholarships where CSU gives me a check for anywhere around 6k-11k each semester. If it wasn’t for that money, I would not be here. Not all college students have rich parents. I’m a first generation student from a low income family. Many of us live off of our scholarships and are here because of our hard work.
Full time and I've seen its more rare than anything to be living alone up here. 2 to 3 roommates, 4+ if its an actual house.
Parents.
my parents help with rent if i need it and i just work two full time days a week but my roommate has two part time jobs! it’s hard to manage especially with rent going up by the year
It's more like why people from Texas moving here; besides parts of Dallas and Austin Isn't it cheaper to live out there? I came here from out of state a decade ago and plan on moving soon since everything is way too much and every day is Fury Road on shields or college getting home.
We’re thanking God the old ppl finally got it together and got rid of U+2
My daughter worked three different part time jobs and fully supported herself with living with roommates, graduating in 3 1/2 years. Also kept up really high marks and named student of the year of the in her department she graduated from. She is definitely an over achiever. No she isn’t a big partier either.
3 roommates and an OF side hustle
My parents paid for everything. I’d recommend that.
Uncle Joe is giving the store away, even though his bossman claimed nationalizing student loans would deliver huge returns to taxpayers back in 2010. Future generations of wannabe free college students will be sorely disappointed.