With enrollment at its highest in UW-Whitewater history and the increased interest from students to live on campus, the university is renting apartment space to accommodate its housing needs. Yet, students pay more than regular tenants to live in off-campus university housing.

By going through the university, students pay more per semester to live in either the Fox Meadows or Cambridge Apartments then if they were to go directly through the landlords of either complex. The university is leasing parts of each complex for university housing.

There are many factors which contribute to the increased cost to students renting through the university, Fox Meadows Manager Nancy Neustaedter said.

“As part of the contract we signed with the university, Fox Meadows pays the electric and water bills for the university leased apartments,” Neustaedter said. “The other tenants we have are responsible for those bills themselves.”

Assistant Director of Resident Life Alan Hoesly said another reason costs are higher for students renting through the university is to pay for staffing, such as resident assistants.

Rates students pay to live in either complex through the university are comparable to costs students pay to live in Starin Residence Hall, UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard Telfer said.

Director of Residence Life Frank Bartlett said due to higher enrollment, more students were given exemptions to live off campus.

Construction to build an off-campus apartment-style housing complex called “The Element” will begin Nov. 1 to help alleviate overcrowding living arrangements on campus. The university plans to take a dorm building off line each year for renovations.

Currently between 200 and 300 students live in the Fox Meadows and Cambridge Apartments through a university lease, Assistant Complex Director of Fox Meadows and Cambridge Apartments John Witte said.

Witte said his goal is to make sure students living in either complex through the university get the same resident life experience they would if they lived in a traditional dorm setting.

“We want to give students [who live in Fox Meadows and Cambridge Apartments through the university] the same opportunities that they would get at other dorms on campus, such as LIT and homecoming activities, among others,” Witte said.

Neustaedter also said the atmosphere in the university rented apartments is similar to the dorm experience.

“Tenants in the university leased apartments tend to leave their apartment doors open and interact like they would living in a traditional dorm,” Neustaedter said.

Neustaedter said Fox Meadows currently leases 28 of the 72 apartments in the building to the university for housing, and that number could increase as high as 42 for next year. She said maintenance for the apartments leased by the university is still taken care of by the complex.

Hoesly said contracts with outside complexes will be reviewed on a year-to-year basis to reflect the needs of the university and the economy.

Hoesly said the unique living agreement is beneficial for students.

“It’s a good way for students to transition to living off-campus,” Hoesly said. “Parents also feel better about it because their children are still overseen by the university.”