For graduate students, living on-campus is 'so freshman year'

The Graduate and Professional Students Assembly has been working with the University over the past two years to create more on-campus housing for graduate students, but there may not be a point.

With a nominal stipend and a more established group of friends, many graduate students say living on campus is simply not worth the convenience of being closer to classes.

"It's quite expensive [to live on campus] for the actual services that are offered," said third-year Mathematics Ph.D. student Tobias Dyckerhoff. "I'm paying only a little more for a room in Center City that's twice as large."

Grad students earning a doctoral degree can spend upwards of 5 years at school and must live off stipends and teaching salaries during that time, making frugality a primary concern.

For older grad students, there are also considerations that attend a new stage in life.

"I probably wouldn't be attracted to living on campus -- I live with my wife," second-year Law student Sam Albright said.

However, international students unfamiliar with Philadelphia find that living on campus can provide a much-needed community.

Dyckerhoff, who is from Germany, said that "living in Center City is a bit isolated."

Living in Sansom Place, the primary on-campus residence for grad students, was more social: Residence halls often plan activities for grad students, 60 percent of whom come from abroad.

Even those who see the benefits of living on-campus, though, can have a hard time landing one of the limited spots in the University's housing system.

Dan Grabell, a second-year MBA student and Graduate and Professional Student Assemby chairman, said GAPSA has spoken regularly with the administration about both the availability and pricing of on-campus housing.

"Ultimately, GAPSA would like one or two affordable locations for grad-student housing," he said.

He added that Penn should request that developers of new housing complexes limit their tenants to those who are 21 years old and over to provide more spots for grad students.

The University "can put stipulations in the contracts - they own the land," said Grabell.

First-year Design grad student Alex Balloon, who serves on a GAPSA committee for housing, has also suggested that such basic problems as poor ventilation, pests and plumbing outages be addressed.

Business Services spokeswoman Barbara Lea-Kruger said cooperation with GAPSA has freed up 200 beds in Sansom Place previously occupied by Drexel University students.

The roughly 300 undergrads in the dormitory have also been consolidated on contiguous floors to provide both grads and undergrads a more cohesive community.

"There's only so much the University can do for Sansom Place, though," Balloon said. "I think all the renovations in the world can't make up for poor design."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.