I recently studied abroad in The Netherlands at University College Utrecht. Below I compiled a list of experiences from my home university, the University of Connecticut, that I found students I met this semester unfamiliar with.
tuition and Campus fees
While it’s common knowledge that U.S. universities are overpriced, seeing the UCU costs this semester put into perspective just how much. Students from all countries in the EU pay under $10,000 yearly for all UCU costs (including housing) before any aid, aside from food. Comparing countries of the EU to states of the U.S., students from Connecticut pay $16,000 tuition yearly at UConn while those from other states pay $39,000, and they alike pay over $14,000 more for housing and campus fees any year they live on campus, including their first year when it’s mandatory. Moreover, UConn wasn’t even the most expensive option I was offered when applying to universities in the U.S., so the contrast of paying $27,000 at UCU for a three-year bachelor’s and paying $240,000 for a four-year bachelor’s in the U.S. was remarkable.
Queueing for the campus bar
Beyond the simple difference between Utrecht being a city and Storrs being a town, the nightlife on the campus itself differs drastically between the two universities. The UCU campus bar does not have bouncers to check IDs, even on party nights, as nobody on campus is underage. Therefore, there are never lines or wait times to get in the bar, even when events are offering free alcohol. If a UCU student were to find out that people pay cover and wait in the cold for hours to go to a mediocre campus bar, they’d be shocked.
on-campus housing
Due to the required $6,000 meal plan, even the lowest quality dorms bring students to $13,000 in yearly residential living costs at UConn. After paying over six times as much as UCU housing, students may expect UConn housing to at least be superior. However, many UConn dorms have poor ventilation, ceiling tiles falling out, water shortages, and trashed communal bathrooms shared between dozens of people. Furthermore, for size reference, my past Garrigus suitemate pointed out upon visiting my UCU single that it was the size of a Garrigus triple. Beyond the bedrooms, UCU “units” are comprised of six to ten of these private rooms and a shared kitchen, living room, and two or three bathrooms, resembling apartments better than dorms. UConn dorms are not only much more expensive than UCU dorms but both smaller and less independent.
Campus Landscape
UCU buildings are within a two-minute walk of one another and classes are still spaced at least an hour apart, so there’s never a reason to rush anywhere on campus. Meanwhile, UConn Storrs is a large campus, needing twenty minutes to cross, making some buildings longer walks from one another than the fifteen minutes scheduled between classes. Accumulating a lot more snow and ice in the winter than the Netherlands, the large hills UConn is built on can further become slippery during the colder months, requiring additional time to walk carefully or risking being late due to waiting for the campus bus. Getting between classes is overall a bigger challenge at UConn than many other universities, and would definitely take a UCU student some time to adapt to.
campus Crime and policing
Trigger Warning: Mention of violence, hate crimes, SA. This last topic is more serious than the rest, but it feels important to acknowledge in the grand scheme of improving UConn standards.
UConn has experienced a string of motor vehicle theft, stabbings, burglaries, hate crimes, breaking and entering, and countless cases of SA in the past two years. These crimes are reported to students through the UConn Alert system but are rarely followed up with reconciliation. The varied forms of motor vehicle theft have carried on for multiple semesters now due to inaction by the university, terrifying commuter students out of coming to class despite paying $350 for their yearly parking passes. UConn police do begin patrolling as early as 5:00 am, ticketing every car parked on campus overnight despite most of them belonging to students with no other options, but it seems the realm of their responsibility seems to end at this when considering their detachment from all other aforementioned crimes.
Special case: While it doesn’t happen often, the riots of the spring 2023 semester following the UConn men’s basketball championship win would’ve especially baffled a UCU student, both due to their violence and the fact that UConn didn’t even lose.
SEXUAL ASSAULT: If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org.