In fall 2023, Carol Hernandez transferred from Sandhills Community College to East Carolina University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in photography. She chose to live on campus, but her experience was not what she had hoped for.
Her dorm, Legacy Residence Hall, was one of the oldest on campus. Hernandez said the bathroom conditions were unsettling and there was no proper air conditioning or elevators in the building. She also struggled to connect with her roommate, which sparked her interest in off-campus housing.
Hernandez came up with a plan. She would find a potential roommate to split rent with and get a job to help cover bills. But after researching her options, she realized that apartments were far too expensive. After struggling to find a job and finding no apartments in her budget, she ultimately decided that leaving ECU was the best choice for her.
“Nothing worked out in my favor while I was over there,” Hernandez said. “I felt like any decision that I made to try to better my situation, it just made my situation worse.”
According to the ECU Off-Campus Student Services website, student off-campus housing prices typically range from around $505 to over $1,200 per month, depending on location, amenities and whether the rent is per room or per unit.
In Greenville, Rentable, a platform for finding and listing rental properties, reports an average cost of $700 per month, Apartments.com lists an average of $909 and Apartment Home Living shows an average of $843. While some listings advertise lower rates around $400 to $500, most student friendly options tend to fall closer to the higher end.
In addition to rent, students are responsible for other living expenses such as electricity, water, gas, internet and phone bills. According to Amber Student, a student housing platform, the average monthly cost for utilities ranges from $155 to $160 for an apartment. While higher end student housing typically include utilities in their overall rent, the more “affordable” options typically do not.
Jaliyah Armstrong, a business administration graduate student, said she spent most of her undergraduate years living on campus. For her final semester, she decided to move off campus to get a taste of what it was like to live in her own apartment.
“I told my parents I wanted to move off campus and my mom said she wouldn’t support it unless it was walking distance from campus,” Armstrong said. “So I started looking and the price was very shocking, apartments near campus were way more expensive than I thought they would be.”
ECU Off-Campus Student Services lists Yugo Greenville Campus Towers as one of the closest housing options to campus, with monthly prices ranging from $719 to $1,109 per person. Other nearby options include The Province Greenville, with rents between $720 and $2,960 per bedroom and Proximity at 10th, where rent starts at around $800 per bedroom.
Armstrong chose to live downtown, a 20 minute walk from campus. She works as an International Enrollment & Engagement Office Assistant at ECU Global Affairs, earning $15 per hour. Her monthly expenses include $853 for rent and approximately $300 for other living costs. This brings her total monthly living expenses to around $1,153.
Armstrong said she initially thought her financial aid would be enough to cover her expenses. However, once those funds ran out, she was left with no choice but to rely on her credit card to pay her bills.
“Every month I would put the rent on my credit card and then just use my job to help pay it down,” Armstrong said. “It’s still not paid off and at this point I don’t know when it’s gonna be paid off.”
Porschea Perry, a sophomore education student at ECU, said she balances three jobs alongside her classes to cover the costs of school and housing. She said she usually gets paid around $1,000 to $1,200 biweekly, depending on her hours.
Perry said her rent is currently $1,019, up from the original $974 when she first signed the lease, and the apartment isn’t near campus. She said while utilities are included in the rent, expenses like gas, insurance, groceries and other necessities quickly add up.
“There are times when it feels like I might sink,” Perry said. “You never know when prices will suddenly rise or change and that makes it even more challenging.”
Kevin Sutton, director of Financial Wellness at ECU, said in an email, the financial situations students face affect many areas of their lives, including academics and mental health.
Sutton said his organization sees students increasingly seeking independence from their parents and family members as they approach graduation.
”We recommend students have direct conversations with their financial support system,” Sutton said.
Kansas Boykin graduated from ECU with a degree in elementary education and has firsthand experience searching for an apartment both during and after graduating. She said not only is off-campus housing super expensive but some have quality issues.
“Instead of making the places where students live nicer,” Boykin said, “those in charge would rather not fix anything and just have students pay high prices for terrible living spaces.”
Boykin said while she wanted to live off-campus, she knew it wasn’t possible. She thought about getting a job, but her internship, which ran from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., along with classes, took up all of her schedule.
Boykin said even after choosing to stay on campus, she still had the risk of being homeless. She said since her financial aid didn’t cover all of her expenses, she depended on loans to be able to have a place to live.
“I graduated with about $23,000 worth of debt,” Boykin said. “But I think that’s on the lower end because it’s even more for other students, especially if they live off campus.”
The Education Data Initiative, a research group that tracks trends in the U.S. education system, reports that the average student loan debt nationwide is about $38,375 per borrower. In North Carolina, that figure is slightly higher, with the average borrower owing around $38,695.
Betty Curry, an affordable housing advisory commission representative for the town of Carrboro, said in her role, she is focused on promoting housing equity while addressing the deep historical injustices that have shaped the community, especially for Black residents.
Curry said the need for affordable housing in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area far surpasses what has been developed. She said while recent projects are helping, they struggle to keep up with the rapid gentrification and increasing rents.
“College students face major housing challenges like high rent, limited availability and competition with families,” Curry said. “While the Chapel Hill-Carrboro primary focus is on vulnerable residents and families, students are part of this ecosystem and their needs should be part of the affordable housing conversation.”
Curry said she has seen many cases where residents were living paycheck to paycheck and even a minor incident could lead to eviction. She said homelessness in the community is not the result of personal choices but a reflection of the lack of availability of affordable housing.
“For college students or young people trying to find affordable housing, start early and do your homework,” Curry said. “Get involved, attend town council meetings, learn about local housing policies and advocate for more inclusive solutions.”