Some Mizzou football fans and other campus visitors can kiss the dorm room rental experience goodbye. The flagship school is getting out of the overnight getaway business. University of Missouri System President Mun Choi tells Missourinet residence halls will be full of students next fall.

Dr. Mun Choi (Photo courtesy of Peter Morenus/UConn)

“Part of that is due to additional student interest in attending Mizzou, as well as reductions that were announced to reduce the costs of dining and residence halls at the university,” says Choi.

Starting this fall, the school is dropping rates between 2.2 and 5% for more than one-third of its more popular residence halls. They will be nearly $350 less annually than the least expensive current campus housing plan. Dining rates will also be about $300 less annually than the lowest option currently available.

The reductions are in response to last fall’s tuition hike of 2.1% for all four campuses.

“The tuition increase that they will see, because it was capped, is only about $210. There’s a net savings, even though the tuition went up this year. We are doing whatever we can to ensure that we have an affordable educational experience for our students,” says Choi.

Last year, the university system had to find ways to handle a $40 million negative hit in state funding for the current fiscal year and about $60 million in shrinking student enrollment and campus housing demand. To help offset costs, Mizzou closed seven dorms to students last fall and rented out rooms at Respect, Excellence and Discovery halls to the public.

The response to the lodging experiment has been positive. Weekend room rentals sold out and created a waiting list for the $120-per-night suites.

Despite the venture’s popularity, one of the university’s top priorities is student success. School leaders say living on campus can help with student achievement.