IRVINE, Calif. – For college students, the choice to live off-campus can be appealing.
But for UCI third-year student Christopher Aguilar, the pandemic has made his decision to live off-campus feel like a burden.
“It really is stressful and frustrating,” said Aguilar.
It’s quiet outside the Columbia Court Apartments - with most students having gone home after UCI canceled in-person classes in March.
Students living on campus were able to cancel housing plans without a fee, but Aguilar and his four roommates - who went home to their families - are paying two months worth of rent, totaling $5,900 to terminate their lease and be able to vacate their Irvine Company apartment by the end of May.
“We have to break that lease. It doesn’t make economic sense for us to stay - to keep paying for an apartment that we’re not going to be using,” Aguilar said.
The Irvine Company has multiple properties in the vicinity of UCI, and over 3,500 people have signed a petition asking the company to reduce the fee associated with breaking a lease early - citing lost student jobs and the university’s strong encouragement for students to stay home for the remainder of the Spring quarter.
But the Irvine Company has made concessions in light of the unforeseen consequences of the pandemic.
Their “Rent Assist” program allows residents to pay 50% percent of their month’s rent - and pay the remainder of the balance interest-free over the next six months.
Irvine Company apartments also have non-student residents, and students sign year-long leases - knowing that they‘re responsible for the months beyond the school year.
“I think it’s very compassionate that Irvine company has tried to offer rent assistance. That’s something that we’re very thankful for. But honestly it’s not appropriate for the situation that students are in. Our issue is not that we don’t have money to pay rent. Our issue is that we’re paying rent on apartments that we’re not using,” says Aguilar.
According to Statista.com, 25% of U.S. undergraduate college students in the lived off campus in 2018.
And as college students look ahead nationwide, there’s an uncertainty come fall as to whether or not they will be back at school - and if so where they’ll live.
“I can’t really plan and put myself in a position in which I’m able to confront - and have the funds to be able to confront this pandemic - and to maybe confront a possible recession,” Aguilar said.