CMU sets rates for graduate student housing, approves Global Campus location in Detroit
Graduate students coming to Central Michigan University can expect to pay between $655 and $1,400 for on-campus housing.
The Board of Trustees approved the rental rates Thursday for the graduate student housing complexes, and costs will run between $665 and $700 for a one-bedroom unit, $765 and $960 for a two-bedroom unit and $1,000 and $1,400 for a four-bedroom unit per month.
Associate Vice President of Residences and Auxiliary Services John Fisher said the prices of comparable apartment complexes nearby, such as Canterbury, Westpoint Village and Stone Crest, which charge between $760 and $900, $755 and $900 and $790 and $850 per month, for a two-bedroom apartment, respectively, were taken into consideration when setting the rates.
Lawrence also said, during a presentation, the new housing should be completed by April 1 and will be primarily filled by graduate students, not College of Medicine students.
The housing will feature 42 one-bedroom units, 43 two-bedroom units and nine four-bedroom units.
Global Campus
The board also expanded CMU's Global Campus by approving a seven-year lease of a 4,000-square-foot space in downtown Detroit.
The space, which is located on the ground floor of the Ernst and Young building on Woodward Avenue near Campus Martius, will serve as a recruiting tool as well as a place to hold Global Campus classes. Total costs for the space are expected to be $893,090, paid over seven years.
University President George Ross said the space is a much-needed foothold for the Global Campus, which has been accused of making a 'doughnut' around Detroit.
"I think it's important to be in downtown Detroit," Ross said. "We have been located in Detroit in past years, but this is a return to the city. Detroit will be back, and it's still an important part of the state, despite the challenges it has faced. Our competitors are downtown, so we need to be in Detroit."
CMU will be joining the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and eight other universities with centers in Detroit.
Chairman Brian Fannon hopes the new addition to the Global Campus will help recruit students.
"(General Motors) is within two blocks of that area and is thriving," he said. "We are going to the area where all the action is at. Now, any of the people who are working and need an education there can walk across the street and see us. From there, they can talk to us and, hopefully, we can cultivate some students from the city."
University officials hope to utilize the large glass facades in the new space by having motion-activated lights and advertisements, which will give pedestrians a look into life at CMU.
