By Julie FrenchThe Daily Northwestern
When Northwestern offered Frederick Beiser a job in its philosophy department, Beiser had to decline for one main reason: the high cost of housing.
“In many ways I would still like to be a member of that department. I just couldn’t afford to live there,” said Beiser, who chose to keep his post at Syracuse University after he received an attractive counteroffer.
The median price of a home in Evanston is $310,000, according to Money magazine. Like most universities in high-cost housing markets, NU helps pay for new faculty members to relocate, although the assistance can vary widely from person to person.
All full-time faculty and staff are eligible for discounted interest rates on their first mortgage, said Janie Savage, assistant to Eugene Sunshine, NU’s vice president for business and finance.
New hires also can receive bridge loans or a second mortgage to help with the cost of a down payment through the university’s relationship with First Bank and Trust of Evanston, Savage said.
Any further assistance, such as a housing stipend, comes from the individual department or school, she said.
“When we offer a position to someone, we attempt to put together an offer so their career can flourish,” said Marie Jones, an associate dean in Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
“It’s a challenge when we try to bring someone in from a market where property values are a lot lower,” Jones said.
Other schools in high-cost housing markets, such as Harvard and Stanford universities, offer even more incentives to their faculty members.
Stanford owns apartments and rental homes with rent 10 percent below market rates, said Shirley Campbell, senior housing programs associate at Stanford.
Harvard has 145 condominiums that are sold exclusively to faculty members. Because Harvard maintains the rights to the land, faculty members get a 20 to 30 percent discount off of the market price, said Susan Keller, assistant director for faculty real estate services at Harvard.
“I don’t believe that housing has ever been a show stopper,” Keller said. “But even prestigious institutions like Harvard know potential hires might consider the entire package.”
Although NU doesn’t offer the same kind of directly subsidized housing on a university-wide basis, Jones said this rarely puts the school at a disadvantage. When a department is recruiting new faculty, housing usually is not the main issue. The benefits NU offers – a strong student body, interdisciplinary programs and the university’s proximity to Chicago – often outweigh the cost of housing for potential hires, she said.
“It really depends on the person,” Jones said. “We’ve hired some people who were living in a house somewhere else, and they’re perfectly happy to move into a condo in Evanston.”
For art history Prof. Cecily Hilsdale, a recent hire from the University of Kansas, her decision to come to NU was based on what she thought was best for her career, not home prices.
“I would never rule out a place because of the cost of living,” Hilsdale said. “I think most academics would choose a university in terms of caliber of the university first and location second.”
Chemistry Prof. Regan Thomson, said he was pleasantly surprised by the cost of housing in Evanston. He previously taught at Harvard and lived in Cambridge, Mass. The Boston suburb is known for steep real estate prices. The median price of a home is $447,525.
But the cost of living did not affect his decision to move, he said.
“Happily, it’s a decrease in rent for me with an increase in housing quality,” he said. “I guess it’s a matter of perspective.”
But for Beiser, Evanston’s real-estate prices were a deal-breaker.
“I’m not criticizing the administration,” Beiser said. “The dean works according to policy the university has worked out. It’s something the whole administration has to be on top of. But I think Northwestern is really behind the game here.”
Reach Julie French at [email protected].
