U of I board raises housing costs

Students of the University of Illinois' three campuses will pay anywhere from 2 percent to almost 12 percent more for housing next fall.

The university system's board of trustees raised housing costs Thursday at its regular meeting in Chicago to meet increasing operational costs and to help cover debt service and repair work.

Trustees also voted Thursday to appoint board Chairman Lawrence Eppley to a sixth 1-year term and to add several new programs to the university's virtual Global Campus.

"The University of Illinois is extremely fortunate to have strong leadership from our trustees," President Joseph White said in a statement.

Housing costs will increase anywhere from 2 percent to 11.8 percent at the university's Urbana-Champaign campus, depending where the student lives. Undergraduate housing, which accounts for about 80 percent of on-campus housing, will cost 6.9 percent more, or $8,198 a year for a double-occupancy dorm room without air conditioning.

The cost of double-occupancy dorm rooms at the Chicago campus will increase 8 percent, to anywhere from $8,156 a year to $9,655.

Rooms at the University of Illinois at Springfield will increase by 6.9 percent to $6,140 a year.

Trustees also added master's degree programs in patient safety leadership and recreation, sports and tourism to the university's online Global Campus. Those degree tracks will be added later this year, along with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

The Global Campus began classes this month with 15 students, far less than the 75 the university had hoped to enroll.

Trustees voted unanimously to reappoint the 48-year-old Eppley. University bylaws suggest the chairman should serve only two terms but do not forbid a longer tenure.