Housing in New York is a big cost for just about anybody, but imagine if you were a student. The loaded cost of a year at NYU--including tuition, fees, room and board--is about $66,000. At that rate, which would come first, death or the payoff of your students loans? 

Using the same type of thinking as the Netherlands nursing home that opened up student housing, New York University has approved a pilot scheme to match opportunity with need. The project, called "Grandma's Spare Room," will offer spare bedrooms in elderly people's homes to students. The program is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2017, and already has had shown a staggering demand. 

This program aligns with NYU president Andrew Hamilton's commitment to address the high cost of attendance during his tenure. NYU's annual attendance costs are higher than most Ivy League schools, primarily because of the astronomical cost of housing in New York City. 

Ellen Schall, the chair of the affordability steering committee, said "We hope this will be a way of helping the needs of two very different populations.” The projected cost of rent under the Grandma's Spare Room program would be about $5,000/year, less than half of the cost of a shared room in NYU's cheapest dorm. 

“This is an opportunity to help low- or fixed-income seniors, and help address the wider housing affordability crisis in New York City,” said Eric Weingartner, the chief executive of University Settlement, a not-for-profit group that helps low-income families on the Lower East Side.

Source: The Guardian