When your son or daughter announces that they want to move into an apartment, one of the key issues that must be addressed is should my student be paying rent? What are the pros and cons?
Increased Safety
Safety is definitely one of the pros of a parents picking up the rent. If students pay the rent on their own, a few things can happen. One, they won’t have much money without a parental infusion (in all likelihood). So they may need to rent the cheapest apartment they can find. Often, with cheap apartments in college towns, you get what you pay for. They can be in the more dicey parts of town. They may not be well maintained by landlords who see students as transient and not worth caring about—and that extends to lack of maintenance of locks and security systems. So, ultimately, both the neighborhood and the apartment may be less safe than a part of town that’s a step up the ladder.
Increased Study Time
Even if your student opts for safer, costlier housing, he or she might have to take a part-time job to pay the rent. That has some advantages—certainly knowing the value of a dollar, along with good work habits and the necessity of managing time. Unfortunately, the chance of them finding a job that pays well enough to offset the time lost studying is unlikely. In today’s world, though, college is highly competitive. Good jobs and entrance into professional school takes good grades and often takes a roster of activities as well. Time spent on a job eats into studying time.
Responsibility…Responsibly
The advantages of knowing the value of a dollar, good work habits, and necessity of managing time can all be gained through other ways—ways that further future goals, and don’t detract from them. For the first, give your student a budget that you talk through, with a bank account reflecting the budget. For the second, internships that augment future goals—research in a lab say, or assisting in a museum—might be better than slinging hash to pay the bills.
What about you? Did you pay rent in school? Tell us in the comments!
Equal Housing Opportunity
