<p>There is no such thing as "free" in college. Everything "included" in the price has been well taken into account in setting a price. I am not sure prepaid laudry services are doing kids a favor. My brother still sends his laudry out in NYC, and it is really a substancial line item He did this even when he was broke, as he hated doing the laundry so much. I would hate to see generation of kids too helpless to do their own laundry. IT is not pretty to see a generation of Saudi type "princes" created.</p>
<p>jamimom - The "free" laundry being talked about here (except at Davidson) is not a laundry service. It simply means that the students don't need to put quarters in or swipe cards for each load. The laundry fee that they pay the college allows them to do as many loads as they want to do, without being charged for each individual load - so it is not creating a generation of kids who don't know how to do laundry. It is similar to an all-you-care-to-eat dining plan versus a plan where you are charged for each item.</p>
<p>When we toured Davidson and heard about their laundry service, we only had one question....Why?</p>
<p>In the case of Davidson it was specifically to avoid putting people out of work when the college took over the building that houses the laundry. Washing machines and dryers are also available for students who wish to do their own laundry (delicates, small load, if they need something right away etc).</p>
<p>Jamimom wrote: "There is no such thing as "free" in college."</p>
<p>This brought a smile and a memory back to me from one college tour (Lehigh). The tour guide made a big deal over how you get copy paper (unlimited) for FREE at Lehigh and I joked, "yeah for $40,000, you get the free paper! Yay!" ;-)</p>
<p>Boy, would it hurt when you get "free laundry" and your kid still come home with that full duffel bag!</p>
<p>my daughter did get "free" printing when she works at computer services- handy cause she didn't even need to take her printer last year.
She is actually pretty good about not bringing home dirty clothes for me to wash, but as far as I can tell, she wears them anyway</p>
<p>yeah.. my freshman and soph years, if we wanted cable tv, we had to pay for it.. and we could choose whatever plan we wanted (15 bucks - basic 15 channels, 30 bucks, regualr cable channels, etc).. we could get digital cable or whatever.. and then miraculously during junior year cable became "free" with board.. yet board went up a little bit :P but you didn't have to worry about having to send in your cable bill every month, so i guess it was a good thing (except that i don't watch cable...)</p>
<p>I will go with free laundry and a computerized phone system so you could call to see if the machines are free and it could call you just before your clothes are done. Maybe that would be a good gift to make to a school. A Maytag, with a plaque!</p>
<p>cable?
My daughters school I doubt if many bring tvs. Her floor had two common rooms and a RA brought a tv which he left in the common room for people but they rarely had time or interest to watch tv, I never saw it on except for one weekend night when we rented movies. With so much to do on campus who has time?</p>
<p>you'd be amazed with how many people watch TV - especially shows like family guy and futurama. I haven't watched a TV show in about ten years.. i do own the family guy dvd's though. many people also bring TV's for movie watching and whatnot.</p>
<p>everyone at penn state has tv's as well, from what i've seen.</p>
<p>As a dad, I have to say that every young man needs to learn to do laundry. As a husband, I have to say I appreciate how much less laundry I have done since I got married. </p>
<p>I will note that it is easier to learn to do dishes (do ANY college students in dorms do their own dishes?) than to do laundry for most hungry young men, because the immediate need to eat provides more incentive to learn the skills than the more remote need to wear nonscuzzy clothes. But I sure hope that all these life skills are practiced before we send our youngsters off to college. It's interesting to me to read here about moms who think it is more effort to teach their kids to do laundry correctly than to just do it themselves. I am willing to supervise the kids' instruction in the correct way if it gets me more time with my wife and the kids being occupied with something constructive for the family.</p>
<p>Both of my kids have "free" laundry at their respective colleges (the washers and dryers work just like those at home - no coins or swipe cards required). However, as many above posters have noted, when tuition is $30,000 a year and there's another $8000 for room and board, I'm sure the value of those quarters is built into the price many times over! It does make it more convenient for the students though.</p>
<p>Yes Jamimom, there is no such thing as free. But coin operated machines are a pain so there is a convenience factor. And the coin operated machines at many colleges are supplied by a contractor who services and maintains them. Of course this is a revenue source for the college, however the company also makes a profit from all those quarters. And who supplies those quarters? The students.</p>
<p>Wouldn't it be cheaper to replace them with cheaper machines sans the coin mechanism? And of course there would be no need for a person to serve the machines and there would be no middleman profit. I mean, how much do we think it costs us to trundle down to the basement and pop in a load? Far less than a buck. Lets see, 6 loads a week, 52 weeks a year equals $312. Hey I could buy a new washer and dryer every couple of years!</p>
<p>Now here is something the SGA's could get hopped up about!</p>
<p>My DD enjoys free laundry, free bottled water in her dorm, free newspapers in the dorm lobby every day, free school shuttle - and this at a state U!!!!! kewl beans!!!</p>