The Kansas City Star

Nothing is soft about the housing market when it comes to dorm rooms at some regional universities.

Students planning to live on Kansas State University’s campus who haven’t yet signed their housing contract may end up bunking at a Manhattan hotel.

In Columbia, the University of Missouri limited the number of upperclassmen living on campus, even paying out roughly $100,000 to urge more to move off. A $1,000 bonus was offered to students to give up their housing contracts to make space for freshmen, who are required to live on campus.

“We knew we were looking at a tight campus housing situation,” said MU spokesman Christian Basi.

Schuyler Noeth, a 20-year-old engineering major from St. Louis, has lived on campus at Mizzou for two years. She is one of the upper-class students who would rather live on campus because it’s modern, convenient “and no cheaper off campus.