WashU continues plans for overhaul of student housing

From WashU's Student Life:

University continues plans for overhaul of student housing - News

This quote at the end is telling:

"These dorms were built in late '50s, and they really have been well maintained, and students become very attached to where they live regardless of whether it's new or old," said [Dean of Students Justin] Carroll. "But the point is that some of the behind-the-scenes things are really antiquated....They were built at a time when campuses were building what they could afford, but they've served us well. We looked at them to see if we could use existing buildings and rearrange them, but found there wasn't really any way to go about it."

So, I guess now they're building more than they can afford? That's a rhetorical question, of course.

The bottom line is that pretty much all the dorms built in the 1950s on the "South 40" at WashU will have been replaced by 2011 with new construction. This process started in the mid-1990s.

Sure, the new buildings are more attractive and more functional than the ones built in the 1950s. I don't question that. But it certainly contributes to the constant rises in tuition rates.

In 2006-2007, undergraduate tuition at WashU is projected to be $32,800.