Indiana University will build on the site of what was once the Poplars Building. The university plans to add 400 beds. (Adam Pinsker WTIU/WFIU)
Indiana University’s Bloomington campus is growing as the city continues to battle a lack of affordable housing.
IU approved new housing at the site of the former Poplars Building on 7th Street, adding almost 400 beds with priority given to graduate students. Some students said that’s not enough.
“People come to IU for grad school because they're really excited about the chance to do research to teach and learn in this environment,” Katie Shy, benefits chair for the IU Graduate and Professional Student Government, said. “It's really a shame that it's so difficult for people to afford to live in Bloomington, and that that is something that IU could really fix pretty easily if they were just willing to commit to actually prioritizing graduate education.”
Nearly 400 more beds coming to Bloomington
IU’s Board of Trustees approved the new housing Aug. 24., prioritizing rental for graduate students.
IU’s Vice President of Capital Planning and Facilities Thomas Morrison addressed the Board of Trustees for approval of the project, which is estimated to be completed by March 2026.
“Affordable housing in Bloomington is a challenge, regardless however you define affordability,” Morrison said. "But it's also not only unique to graduate students. It is certainly true for faculty and staff as well."
Read more: IU plans more housing for graduate students at former Poplars site
Estimated costs range from $1,315 to $1,834 per month based on the number of bedrooms, according to materials presented to the board. The costs are adjusted to account for inflation by 2026.
The new project will add to IU’s 1,488 existing beds for graduate students, Morrison said to the board. IU Bloomington enrolled over 10,600 graduate students this fall.
Graduate student leadership want more from university
Chelsea Brinda, president of IU’s Graduate and Professional Student Government and PhD student, said she’s already taken part in the university’s search for better housing. She was co-chair of the Graduate Student Housing Committee in 2022. The working group’s findings were submitted seven months ago to be included in IU Bloomington’s 2030 Strategic Plan, but the suggestions didn’t make it into the final plan.
Brinda’s committee suggestions included a survey for graduate students to better understand housing needs for Student Academic Appointment works and others.
“Do they want more private spaces? Do they need spaces for their families? Do they need accessible spaces, as well as what can they reasonably afford?” Brinda said. “People who aren't on SAAs — what was their funding situation? What can they afford?”
Read more: IU enrollment slightly up from last year, growth in Bloomington
At a Bloomington Faculty Council meeting Aug. 29, Brinda addressed Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav, saying the proposed rent at the Poplars Building site would burden anyone who makes under $52,000. She said she wanted to know the university’s immediate plans for affordable, accessible housing.
Shrivastav said the university has already looked at prioritizing housing owned by IU Real Estate for graduate students. He also acknowledged housing is a “major issue” for many people in Bloomington, not just students.
“If you have a solution to make it, to solve this overnight, I'd love to hear it,” Shrivastav said at the meeting. “But we do take our interest in solving housing issues seriously. This is one of multiple steps we continue to take.”
Dean of IU Bloomington’s Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education David Johnson also responded to Brinda.
“We're doing what we can from our side of things,” Johnson said. “But I also believe that this is a community issue and that only a collaboration between IU and the community will help to solve it.”
Read more: IU makes more concessions to grad workers, no mention of union
Brinda said the graduate housing work group is supportive of community efforts to improve housing problems in Bloomington, but she hasn’t seen any evidence of IU forming relationships yet.
“The real issue here is that graduate students are being very loud and clear about what they need, and what's affordable and not affordable. And they're just not listening,” Brinda said.
The Graduate Workers Coalition has pushed for higher pay and a living wage for gradaute workers at IU. The univeristy does not recognize the union. (Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU)
Grad students, represented by the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition-United Electrical Workers, saw raises to minimum stipends and the elimination of mandatory fees after strikes and other organizing last year. The university does not recognize the union.
“The big issue is the financial aspect. But I think the even bigger issue, which is unsurprising given everything that's happened the last few years with the graduate students, is that we just simply aren't being acknowledged or listened to,” Brinda said.
Most people in Bloomington rent burdened
Jared Meisinger, a PhD candidate in IU’s Media School, has lived in Bloomington for five years.
He found a new apartment this year, after the previous one’s rent increased by about 50% — $4,000 more a year, he said — since he first moved to Bloomington.
Meisinger’s previous spot was across from the Poplars Building, and monthly payment would have been $1070, he said. The only reason he could pay for the place last year was because of a raise given by the university after graduate students went on strike.
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An SAA stipend provides a $22,000 minimum stipend.
“Clear math, that's over 50% of your paycheck,” Meisinger said, talking about his first apartment’s cost. “And so we would all be considered rent burdened in that situation.”
People are considered cost burdened in Bloomington if they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. The city reported in 2020 over 60% of renter households and nearly 30% of owner-occupied households in Bloomington are cost burdened.
Meisinger used to be an SAA, but this year he works as an adjunct lecturer for about $13,000 a semester without health insurance.
“It was tough to find anything that was affordable for what you're getting out of a location or the quality of the place,” Meisner said.
Grad student housing not keeping up with demand
Shy said she’s lived in Bloomington for four years. She’s now pursuing a PhD in English.
She wasn’t able to visit Bloomington before signing a lease, and she found her roommates on Facebook. She found her apartment in March the year before she moved in, which she said was “lucky,” because some people who wait to accept admission and find housing July or August have it harder.
“Because when you're renting, you're always at the mercy of your landlord a little bit,” Shy said. “And if you have no time to really be discerning about where you're gonna live, and it's just really hard to get somewhere that you're really happy with.”
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Brinda said students often ask for help after housing is taken up quickly and early in the year, and the process of finding an apartment is “demoralizing.”
Shy is an SAA, and her monthly paycheck is $2,000. The GPSG found last year the median rent for a 1-bedroom was $851 in a resolution calling on the university to create more affordable graduate housing. The university did not respond.
The university has not announced any more raises for SAAs in the future.
“The other just really important reality of looking for housing every year is that we can't really afford to live in Bloomington on the stipend that SAAs are given from IU,” Shy said.
Meisinger said he knows people who leave Bloomington entirely, opting to commute from Ellettsville where it's cheaper.
He said he wants to see a solution from the university, like subsidizing housing.
“If IU really did want to help grad students and with housing, they don't necessarily have to make money off of us,” Meisginer said. I think that with a big public university, why does every single initiative have to generate profit? They could subsidize it for us.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @aubreymwright.
