ASU housing police. Pull over.

TEMPE — Arizona State University will start enforcing a new policy next fall that forces freshman students to live on-campus during their first year or else file an application for an exemption.

News that ASU will start policing campus living situations follows other headlines that show state universities shedding jobs and raising fees past the $6,000 mark next fall to cover expenses.

University Housing associate Vice President Michael Coakley said in a prepared statement that there are circumstances that will allow students to be exempt from this policy. An in-state student living with a parent or legal guardian is an automatic exception. Other students may be exempt if they are over 21 years of age, married or have extreme financial problems or medical conditions.

“Each exemption request will be handled on a case-by-case basis to ensure the best decision possible to achieve academic and personal success for the student,” Coakley says.

Michelle Gutierrez, a Residence Hall Association spokeswoman, says she is concerned there will be a long list of exemption applications.

“In my opinion, students should not have to apply to live off-campus at a public university,” Gutierrez says. “Rather, they should have the opportunity to apply to live on campus.”

She says this new policy could force some students to pay thousands of dollars to live on campus and buy a meal plan from Aramark, the university’s food provider.

Incoming ASU freshman Kara Martin says the on-campus housing rule is a good policy to enforce because it helps new students get used to the ASU campus and provides a safe way for them to live on their own for the first time.

Her mother, Sharon Martin, says that it should be up to the parents and students to decide where students live.

An Arizona resident living in the Palo Verde dormitory with the cheapest meal plan is paying an estimated $8,238 per semester for all ASU fees including tuition, according to ASU’s website. An out of state resident living under the same conditions pays an estimated $14,382 per semester for all fees including tuition. The newer Hassayampa dorm cost $700 more.

“Similar to the meal plan exemption process,” Gutierrez says, “students can find themselves stuck with a financial burden because they missed an application deadline or didn’t have a ‘good enough reason’ to be exempt from a meal plan as determined by the Aramark board.”

Economics sophmore Bryan Tharalson says he receives thousands of dollars in loans per semester from Free Application for Federal Student Aid. After paying his ASU fees, he says he only has a little bit of money left to cover rent at his off-campus apartment. He still spends money from his pocket to live on his own, and he said it would have cost him a lot more if he would have had to live on campus his freshman year.

“It adds up to thousands of dollars. If you live on campus, you have to have a meal plan, which costs more and a parking pass costs more too,” Tharalson says.

Gutierrez says there are currently about 5,000 students living on ASU’s Tempe campus in housing provided by Residential Life.

“With the addition of 1,700 additional bed spaces when the new Barrett Honors College residential facility opens in the fall of 2009,” Coakley says. “ASU will have the capacity to house all first-year students.”

Coakley said that freshmen who live on campus are more likely to graduate by living in residential halls. It also helps students become more aware and involved in the ASU community. National studies have shown that the retention rate for students who live in on-campus housing for at least one year is 20 percent higher than that of students living off-campus.

This decision is also an economic one since students who drop out are obviously not paying tuition. Coakley says this helps improve academics at the university.

“ASU is committed to ensuring the academic and personal success of our students and as such believes it is imperative for students to reside in campus housing for at least their freshman year,” he says.

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