Editor's Note: This article was updated Jan. 24 with the most recent proposed 2020-21 housing rates for 300 Swift.
Those who lived in a flea-infested dorm and wondered why they paid the same price as those living in apartments in 300 Swift will probably be pleased about a new Duke housing policy that will come into effect next year. Those who live in 300 Swift—or want to live there next year—may not be so happy.
Joe Gonzalez, assistant vice president of student affairs and dean for residential life, confirmed that rates for 300 Swift will go up next year to reflect the nicer accommodations, which include a full kitchen, living room and balcony.
For those living in a shared bedroom in a Swift apartment, the rate will be the same as a single room on West Campus—$6,053 per semester, according to the proposed 2020-21 housing rates emailed to students Jan. 24. A single apartment will cost $7,524 per semester. Financial aid will cover the rates as such.
Currently, Swift residents in a shared and single bedroom pay $5,894, the same as students living in a residence hall double on West.
“The double room residence hall rate was used for the first two years because 300 Swift was housing students from quads/houses displaced by renovations at Crowell and then Craven,” Gonzalez wrote. “Now that this work is complete, the more appropriate rate will be used starting in the fall.”
Duke purchased 300 Swift three years ago, and during renovations to Crowell and Craven Quads, students were temporarily assigned to live in the apartments. Construction finished in time for students to move back into Crowell in Fall 2018 and Craven in Fall 2019.
The University hopes to eventually have two new dorms on West Campus so it doesn’t need to house undergraduates in Swift anymore, but administrators are still looking for spots to put new dorms.
In other housing news, Duke may be splitting an independent house in two to name a residence hall after a donor.
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Jake Satisky was the Editor-in-Chief for Volume 115 of The Chronicle.
Stefanie Pousoulides is The Chronicle's Investigations Editor. A senior from Akron, Ohio, Stefanie is double majoring in political science and international comparative studies and serves as a Senior Editor of The Muse Magazine, Duke's feminist magazine. She is also a former co-Editor-in-Chief of The Muse Magazine and a former reporting intern at PolitiFact in Washington, D.C.