Drury freezing housing costs

Drury University has set in motion plans to freeze housing costs in its 2016-17 academic year.

Next fall, prices either will remain steady or decrease, said spokesman Mike Brothers.

Currently, prices for freshman housing at the Springfield college’s three residence halls - Smith, Wallace and Sunderland - range from $3,328 to $4,503 per semester, when students have a roommate.

“We are still in the process of finalizing exact pricing on these units for next year, but we can say with certainty that they will be either frozen or reduced in price,” Brothers said via email.

Drury also announced today a rule change allowing students whose primary family residence is within 30 miles of the Springfield campus to live at home with a parent.

“We firmly believe in a residential college experience, and our current students and alumni can attest to the difference it makes in one’s college career,” Drury President David Manuel said in a news release. “But we also want to ensure a continued focus on access and affordability, particularly for students here in the Springfield area.”

In September, Drury decided not to renew the contracts of 12 faculty members within a two-year period as it works to grow enrollment at the private liberal arts college.

For the fall semester, traditional undergraduate day-school enrollment dropped 8.9 percent to 1,325 this semester from 1,454 a year earlier.