The Hill sees price increases

• With the closure of the Annex and Dorm 7, the Hill sees price increases.
• The Hill’s proximity and demand as second fastest-filling dorm on campus contributed to the decision to increase the prices.

Liberty University’s dorms on the Hill have seen a price increase of nearly $1,500 per academic year since older dorms, such as The Annex and Dorm 7, have closed down.

The Hill, located between DeMoss Hall and the Hancock Welcome Center, is in a prime location on campus and within walking distance of various dining locations. As of 2017, the Hill is the second fastest filling dorm after the Commons.

Rebekah Kessler, a freshman on the Hill, said there are many reasons she is happy with her living choice.

“The location is pretty great and being in the center of things has been wonderful,” Kessler said. “I know that’s why it’s more expensive, but it’s in such a good spot. Living on a hall with 70 other girls makes it easy to meet people.”

Vice President for Financial Analytics Richard Martin said proximity and demand were two large factors when determining the prices for the dorms.

“Because the Circle and Dorm 7 were gone, there was kind of nothing left in the middle other than Commons,” Martin said. “We decided to take the Hill up to a different tier because it was generally quickest to fill. And that’s why the Hill went up too, because of its proximity to the dining hall and DeMoss.”

The Hill is one factor in a bigger shift of pricing on campus. Along with the demand and proximity, Martin said that the department also keeps an eye on competing colleges to ensure Liberty is not only meeting the needs of the students, but also making changes as the market changes.

“We generally make sure that if we make any changes to cost of attendance that it’s done with that market,” Martin said. “We’ve historically been in the bottom third on pricing of the competitive market so that’s still currently where we are. On room and board we’re even further down.”

Martin said James Madison University and Old Dominion University are among those in Liberty’s local market, while Virginia Tech, The University of Virginia and Baylor University are quickly becoming competitors.

Liberty’s 2017-2018 housing rates per semester range from $2,200-$3,450 while Old Dominion ranges from $580-$6,098 per semester.

In the upcoming public market, Virginia Tech’s 2017-2018 housing rates range from $2,606-$5,144 per semester.

While Virginia Tech and many other institutions offer single bedrooms for students, Liberty does not. Martin said that is a feature that has been considered, but as of now, the university needs the bed space.

In order to determine prices that will fit in the market, Liberty does walking analyses of various campuses. Martin said during these walks they will look at the proximity of the residence halls to the academic buildings and note the housing rates.

Martin said he does not like to make many changes to the cost in a short period of time, however, he does need to make sure that when the market changes, Liberty can keep up.

“If we weren’t going up at a market close rate, then the people that give our credit ratings would have some serious concerns,” Martin said.

Looking forward, Martin said he is unsure whether the Hill will continue to house students.

“We’ll see if it stays residence halls,” Martin said. “It’s more tempting for institutions to need more academic space, so I’m not sure if it will stay all residence halls in the future.

“We just started our review about what did and didn’t work from last year to this year,” Martin said. “We have no shortage of things that we want to try, but we don’t want to throw too many things out there.”