If you live in a dorm and want to stay where you are in the 2013-2014 academic year, be prepared. The recontracting deadlines are upon us. If your room is in Fredericksen Court, Buchanan Hall, Wallace and Wilson Halls, or University and Schilletter Village, you must file your contract by 10 p.m. Friday. For students living in Richardson Court or Union Drive, you have until Friday, Feb. 15.

As students contemplate moving to a better patch of real estate (or do so, in the case of those seeking off campus apartments), we would suggest that college students on the prowl for a place to live do not need the comforts of home. For a long time, students lived in basic accommodations such as those in Friley and Helser Halls or the Richardson Court residence halls that are nearly a century old.

In the more recent past, colleges and universities, including Iowa State, have improved the residential comforts available to students living on campus. Indeed, universities use residence and dining halls to compete with one another just as they compete on an academic level.

But part of being a college student is living in close quarters with other students. If you can live in Helser Hall, for example, you can live most anywhere. College isn’t supposed to be a romp that replicates a student’s bedroom at home and the comforts of living in one’s parents’ house. Instead, it should be a period of almost ascetic self-denial in which students grow their minds.

Iowa State faces a very real housing problem. In fall 2012 and fall 2011, the Department of Residence needed to accommodate more students than there was space for. Building new Fredericksen Court apartments probably isn’t the best idea. For one, the capacity is limited and the space uneconomical. The six new Fredericksen Court buildings will house only a few more students (720) than Helser Hall (713) and, although we could not find specific size specifications, a look at the campus map suggests Helser occupies a much smaller space.

Of course, money also is implicated in the question of whether the university should construct apartments or dormitories.

According to the ISU Fact Book, tuition per year has risen by $2,458 from 2002-2003 to 2011-2012. The cost of room and board also increased, by $1,264. And the estimated cost of a double room in a residence hall rose by $953.

Of course, the rate for on-campus housing varies wildly by location. This year, a double room in a traditional residence hall without air conditioning cost $4,093. If you wanted your own bedroom in a Fredericksen Court apartment, you’d pay from $5,257 to $6,424. Eaton and Martin Halls are by far the most expensive places to live on campus, ranging from $5,675 to $7,540.

As students try to find more affordable ways of obtaining a college education in an environment of limited resources, and as Iowa State attempts to economically accommodate those students, the numbers speak for themselves. Living in nicer residence halls costs a lot more money in addition to costing a great deal of the traditional “college” experience.