{"id":3869,"date":"2025-02-11T15:11:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T15:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/?page_id=3869"},"modified":"2025-10-10T15:01:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:01:43","slug":"on-vs-off-campus-living-comparison-and-costs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/on-vs-off-campus-living-comparison-and-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"On vs. Off Campus Living:  Comparison and Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Information provided by Residential Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>On-Campus<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Off-Campus<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Convenience (Walking between buildings from residence hall, etc.)<\/td><td>Longer commute time, less convenient if locked out (wait for landlord or roommates); walking in the elements&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Accessibility of resources (Dolly\/Hall Item rentals, RA on-Call, RHD on-Call, Public Safety, Emergency Housing, etc.)<\/td><td>Have to access resources via 3rd-party vendors (Off-campus resources outside of business days\/hours)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Housing Contract: Cancellation Fee<\/td><td>Legally binding lease: 6-18 months without opportunity to get out of contract<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Room-Buyout Option<\/td><td>Subleasing (hassle) for 4-6 months while away for summer or on study away<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sustainable Bins and Trash\/Recycling dumpsters during move out&nbsp;<\/td><td>Hard Credit Check (Good Credit and Rental experience)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Room Change Request Option<\/td><td>Housing Deposit (1-1.5 month rent)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Room\/ESA Accommodation (Center for Disability Resources approval)&nbsp;<\/td><td>Income Check (usually requires 2-3 times monthly rent expense)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Free (Limited) Storage for some students (400+ miles from campus)<\/td><td>No Animals allowed or must pay Pet Fee<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional Housing Costs Besides Rent:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Furnishing (Dining, kitchen, common room, bathroom, bedroom, etc.) &#8211; From $50-$500 or more<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lot or underground parking (if applicable) &#8211; $50-$200 per month<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Extra storage closet\/garage &#8211; $75-$200 per month<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Utilities (Electricity, water, trash, wifi, phone) &#8211; $100-$300 per month or more<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cooking supplies for Kitchen &#8211; $50-$300 up front costs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Food costs &#8211; $150-$400 per month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Cost Comparison Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Information Provided by Residential Life&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>On-Campus Housing<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Semester<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Total Cost<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Halls<\/td><td>$4,361.00<\/td><td>$8,722.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>GDD<\/td><td>$4,361.00<\/td><td>$8,722.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>GCA<\/td><td>$4,961.50<\/td><td>$9,923.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Kirk<\/td><td>$4,361.00<\/td><td>$8,722.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>L-Houses<\/td><td>$4,495.00<\/td><td>$8,990.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Veggie Co-Op<\/td><td>$4,361.00<\/td><td>$8,722.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Study-Away (Kirk)<\/td><td>$4,361.00<\/td><td>$8,722.00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Questions? Please email any of the following offices:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"mailto:offcampus@macalester.edu\">offcampus@macalester.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"mailto:deanofstudents@macalester.edu\">deanofstudents@macalester.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"mailto:residential-life@macalester.edu\">residential-life@macalester.edu<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information provided by Residential Life On-Campus Off-Campus Convenience (Walking between buildings from residence hall, etc.) Longer commute time, less convenient if locked out (wait for landlord or roommates); walking in the elements&nbsp; Accessibility of resources (Dolly\/Hall Item rentals, RA on-Call, RHD on-Call, Public Safety, Emergency Housing, etc.) Have to access resources via 3rd-party vendors (Off-campus [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3869","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3869"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4497,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3869\/revisions\/4497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/off-campus-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}