Explore the affordable housing options available to WMU Students on and around campus. Tenants and managers can face potential hurdles, which inform the experiences they’ll have in rental properties.
Priced Out
Students in Kalamazoo Struggle to Stay Housed By Chidalu Nnorukah, Sasha B. Wilson, and Matthew Smiley Studier For college students in Kalamazoo, finding affordable housing has become a financial balancing act that’s becoming harder to manage. Between long work hours, academic commitments, and rising rent costs, students are being forced to sacrifice sleep, grades, and social lives just to keep a roof over their heads. What should be a time of growth and exploration has become a daily fight against housing insecurity.
Once known for its educational opportunities and strong community support, Kalamazoo is struggling to meet the housing demands of its growing student population. From rising rent, poor-quality options, to long commutes, affordable housing has become one of the most pressing challenges facing local college students.
Rising Costs and Financial Pressures
Jaylen Brandson works long hours each week to afford her modest apartment, living paycheck to paycheck to stay housed. “The cost of living does affect my academics because sometimes trying to manage being a full-time student and having a job that doesn’t give you the most flexible hours can be time-consuming. I am having to work a lot to pay for my living situation, rent, and utilities,” She says. It can get really stressful, especially when you are living paycheck to paycheck,” says Jaylen.
Winter brings even higher costs, further straining students’ limited resources. Amber Burch, a senior at Western Michigan University (WMU), says her rent increases during the colder months because of heating. “It does get frustrating sometimes, especially during winter, because our rent price does go up for the furnace. You can’t really enjoy as many things because you are focused on the rent,” says Amber.
Moody’s Q3 2024 Housing Affordability Update revealed that student housing rent growth has surpassed traditional multifamily rent growth, increasing by 5% in 2023 and another 4.3% in 2024. Experts say this trend stems from a growing mismatch between enrollment and available units. As demand rises faster than supply, property managers raise rates to match market demands, further escalating the crisis.
Paula Hopson, property manager at Jakobson Management Company, said rental prices are determined by the broader market. “There are a lot of factors that go into determining the rent prices. We do market surveys by calling other companies that are also renting similar homes in the area and find out what they are renting for. We try to keep the pricing fair for students,” she explained.
Financial Aid
Financial aid, like the Kalamazoo Promise and various scholarships, eases the tuition burden, freeing some students to handle living expenses such as rent. Many said they would suffer without this support.
Sarah Maxfield, a student at WMU, considers herself fortunate to receive financial support from her parents, which makes paying for rent easier. “I know I am a lot more fortunate than other people, but it works out in my favor, especially with utilities,” says Sarah.
For others, like Connor Avery, a senior at WMU, getting the Kalamazoo Promise lifted lots of financial pressure off his back. Now he can focus on his studies without working long hours to pay rent. “Being from Kalamazoo, I get the Kalamazoo Promise, and that pays for my tuition. So that takes away a lot of stress from me. The Promise really helps me out,” says Connor.
Not all students are as fortunate. Those without such safety nets often make difficult choices between rent, food, and academic success.
Maintenance and Living Conditions
Despite the high cost of student housing, some still deal with poor conditions that expose them to unsafe and unhealthy environments. Students reported problems such as pests, faulty air conditioning, poor drainage, and management neglect. Students have been forced to rely on paper plates due to bad sinks, deal with bad water, and face security issues.
Connor narrated how a fallen tree blocked the apartment’s parking lot, and it took the management more than two months to clear it. “We had a giant tree fall on our parking lot, and none of us could pack in there. It probably took a month or two to get the tree out of there,” says Connor.
He also shared his experience with a severe bug and rat infestation that management refused to handle, insisting it was not their responsibility. This took several months before fumigation occurred. “We also had bugs and rats, and he (property manager) said that was our problem, even though it came from the neighboring property. That was awesome to deal with, he was a great property manager,” Connor said sarcastically. Other students shared similar frustrations, with some dealing with broken air conditioners, bad sinks, and dealing with poor water quality and damaged walls.
When asked about some of the widespread complaints that students raised from experiences under different management companies, Jacobson Management Company said that, in their case, they have put systems in place to respond promptly, including a 24-hour hotline for emergencies. “We have rental certification and abide by all those laws. We offer lots of ways for them to communicate with us when they do have an issue through the online portal, phone, and email. We also have a 24-hour emergency cell phone that they can get and texts that will go out in the middle of the night if there is blood, flood, or fire to get hold of us,” Paula Hopson explained.
Distance and Isolation
Finding on-campus housing at Arcadia, one of WMU’s primary residential complexes, can be challenging due to high demand and a lottery-based allocation system. While the process aims to ensure fairness, some students have expressed stress and uncertainty about the outcome, especially when not selected. Losing the lottery often means seeking expensive apartments farther from campus.
Students living off campus often find themselves trading proximity for affordability. With nearby apartments out of reach, many live 30 minutes to an hour from campus.
Kendall Byas, a graduate student in Social Work, chose to live off-campus against paying extra as a graduate student. For Kendall, living off-campus isolates her from campus life and social activities. She misses out on events she wishes she could attend, but cannot afford closer housing. “I will say that the only inconvenient thing is that I am not closer on campus, so it kind of makes it harder to want to do things that go on campus,” says Kendall.
Amber Burch also sacrifices her time daily commuting from her apartment to campus. Due to rising costs of living, others are forced to spend more time inside their apartment to “get their money’s worth” from high rent, causing them to further get isolated from social activities.
As housing prices continue to rise, Kalamazoo’s students are left juggling work, school, and survival. For some, financial aid or family support offers a lifeline, while for others, the search for stable, affordable housing remains a constant burden, one that threatens not only their academic progress but their overall well-being.
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Editor’s Note: This story was produced by a collaborative team of students from the Community-Engaged Digital Storytelling (CEDST) Lab at Western Michigan University. It is part of the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative’s equitable community development reporting project.
