By Benjamin Davis / The Jambar
The week before Veterans Day, I was working on a story about the housing fair that was hosted at William F. Maag, Jr. Library. A few interviews later, the story ended up being about university housing in general. Consider this the exciting sequel to that.
Now I couldn’t really voice much of an opinion about the subject last time, but boy howdy, I can do that here. So, gather ‘round, children, cause Uncle Ben has an astute observation he’d like to make. The cohort rate for on-campus student housing is just too darn high.
“Now, hold on there, Uncle Ben,” you might be saying. “What is this cohort rate anyway?” I’m glad you asked. To put it simply, the cohort rate is how much a student is paying for housing at one of the on-campus residence halls. These include Lyden House, Cafaro House, Wick House and Kilcawley House.
Instead of charging students monthly rent, they’re charged for the whole semester or academic year. The rate is determined by what year the student is admitted into Youngstown State University.
“But how much is the rate? Surely it can’t be that much.” Well boy, do I have news for you. The rate per semester is standing at a slick $6,000. The rate per academic year is double that at a whopping $12,000 — and that’s not even for the full calendar year, just the academic year.
Now, I apologize if I seem a bit ungentlemanly — I don’t want to set a bad example. But I was absolutely flabbergasted when I saw the price tag at the housing fair. It’s not like this is some dark little secret — this was slapped right on the informational papers they were handing out.
$12,000 for the academic year is just a load of hooey.
It gets even better. According to the Residence Hall Application for 2026-27, new applicants must pay a $35 application fee, and there’s a $250 prepayment that students must make. Failure to do so will result in the loss of the student’s room and/or contract. And get this, if a student wants to cancel or move out during the semester, they need to pay a cancellation fee that’s also $250. I’m sorry, but this is baloney. Tuition can already charge students well into the thousands, and that’s not even mentioning textbooks, which can cost hundreds more every semester. Now, I don’t know much about this world, but I do know a rotten deal when I see one — and to think that YSU sells itself on being more affordable. Call me crazy, but it’s starting to look mighty expensive.
There’s other universities in Ohio that are beating YSU in affordability. The 2025-26 per semester cohort rate at Ohio University averages around $4,000 to $5,000. Kent State University has an even cheaper semester rate averaging between $3,000 to $4,000. Even The Ohio State University is cheaper than YSU, with its semester rate in the same range as OU, between $4,000 to $5,000.
It isn’t exactly a secret that YSU puts an importance on numbers. So here’s my suggestion, if the university really wants to attract more students, maybe try dropping the cost of housing a bit.
I mean come on, who doesn’t think “free housing” is a good selling point? At the very least, it can allow YSU to live up to its affordability shtick, especially when compared to its competitors.
