Photo: Norbert Levajsics on UnsplashFuture freshmen have less than a month left until classes start. This means that, in addition to thinking about books, exams and professors, they enter the final stages of preparation, which also includes looking for accommodation for those who are not studying in their city.
At the same time, parents speed up their calculation and household budget planning, in line with the ambitions of future academics.
Although 17,584 places will be available to students in student dormitories throughout Serbia for the upcoming school year - 9,558 in Belgrade, 943 in Niš, 2,653 in Novi Sad and 769 in Kragujevac, experience from previous years shows that there are always plenty of those "below the line" .
Their only options are renting apartments, which according to some estimates in Belgrade will cost from 250 euros in the outskirts to as much as 400 euros in the center, but also accommodation in private student dormitories, the number of which is growing in cities that are considered student centers.
Although the Ministry of Education does not have data on private student dormitories, and the question arises as to whether they are even legal and how they are registered in the system, in the ads you can find numerous offers for accommodation in facilities that call themselves that.
Private dormitories offer academics different types of accommodation at slightly more affordable prices compared to rents, which have risen significantly in all major cities in recent months.
For example, one of the private homes in Voždovac, near the Faculty of Pharmacy, has 12 apartments and 24 rooms with a common dining room and kitchen. All rooms are single, and the price of accommodation, which ranges from 180 to 230 euros, depending on the size of the room, includes the costs of water, electricity, heating, maintenance, as well as cable TV and internet. It is interesting that, in addition to accommodation, this home also offers foreign language classes for an additional fee.
One of the private student dormitories on Zvezdara, which has only seven rooms of different sizes, offers accommodation to students at a price of 165 euros in double rooms, while the price is slightly lower in triple rooms - 145 euros. All utilities, electricity, central heating, internet and cable television are included in the price.
The conditions are somewhat more favorable in Novi Sad, where the total monthly housing costs in a private student dormitory amount to 150 euros per person in a double room.
There are also private dormitories for students in Kragujevac. Namely, in the ads you can find accommodation in one of the private student dormitories near the Faculty of Law and Economics, which offers double rooms. The price is 90 euros per bed, which includes all costs, from cable TV and internet to a washing machine and dryer. In the accommodation itself, students have organized and professional cleaning three times a month.
And while, on the one hand, accommodation in a state student dormitory is still the most economical and proven option for students, the question remains as to how many such private accommodations are under the state's radar and what kind of living conditions they actually offer to young people.
HIGHER ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD PRICES FOR STUDENTS
Academics will have to allocate a little more money for accommodation in student centers this year due to price adjustments. According to the Ministry of Education, students will pay 2,790 dinars per month instead of the current 1,860 dinars in first-category rooms in state dormitories. In the second category, instead of 1,430 dinars, the price will be 2,150 dinars, the third category has increased in price from 1,248 to 1,600 dinars, while places in rooms of the fourth category will cost 1,500 dinars per month instead of 1,144 dinars.
Also, the prices of individual meals in student canteens have risen, so instead of the previous 40 dinars, students will have to pay 56 dinars for breakfast, 120 dinars for lunch instead of 72 dinars, and 90 dinars for dinner, instead of the previous 59 dinars, writes biznis.rs.
Source: biznis.rs
