Dean Sees Higher Rents With Single-Price Plan

College room rents will rise to a relatively high level if a single-rent system is adopted, Dean Watson said yesterday. A rent adjustment mechanism built into the plan would lessen the increase for scholarship students, however.

Under the present system of 27 different rent levels, Watson explained, "many students are happy to pay above-average prices for their rooms." If a standard rent were adopted, this extra revenue would be lost. In this case, the Houses would be forced to set the single-rent level above their "break-even" point.

The Administration, in other words, would divide the total House maintenance costs by the number of students, and then add a percentage to the result. This extra charge, which those now living in high-priced rooms can afford, will be used to subsidize scholarship students, who could not otherwise pay their rents.

"Except for the apparent problem of a high rent level, the single-rent system looks promising," said Watson. "There are many advantages involved."

First, he explained, the Masters would not have the problem of placing students with given "ability-to-pay" into a complicated rent distribution pattern within the Houses. With all rents the same, rooms could be assigned on the basis of seniority.

Quincy Presents Challenge

Secondly, Quincy House, with its identical suites, presents a serious challenge to the present rent system. Unless Quincy rooms were "artificially differentiated," establishing a rent scale would be impossible, Watson noted.

In the third place, uniform rents would lessen the administrative burdens of the present system, which has a scale of 27 different rents. Except for room charges, University bills--including tuition, board, and health fee--are the same for all College students.

Finally, under the present system, room prices do not, in many cases, correspond to the attractiveness of the suite. Another Administration official pointed to the difficulties involved in establishing a realistic rent scale. It is very hard, he said, to judge the relative importance of size, view, location within the House, nearness to a busy street, and so on.