The University is looking to expand housing options for graduate students in the Jewelry District after a survey last spring found an estimated demand of 1,136 beds from graduate students and postdocs looking to live in the neighborhood. The survey results were presented at the Graduate Student Council meeting in December.
With about a third of students and postdocs responding, 35% of the respondents indicated they would “choose to live in the Jewelry District,” according to Dana Hamdan MBA’25, the associate vice president of campus life administration.
Survey respondents cited outdoor safety, availability of dining options and proximity to green space as main criteria for their housing needs.
Graduate students have struggled to find affordable housing in proximity to the University for years. Brown currently owns several properties that are rented to graduate students, including River House Apartments in the Jewelry District, which opened in 2019 with 200 units available for Brown community members.
In 2020, the University rented out additional housing units in River House to decrease undergraduate housing density during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brown then purchased the property in 2021 for permanent graduate student housing.
“At the time that Brown acquired River House, the University housed approximately 3% of the total graduate and medical student population within University-owned buildings,” John Luipold, the vice president of business affairs, auxiliary services and real estate, wrote in an email to The Herald. That number increased to 10% after the property was purchased, he added.
Zhinuo Wang GS has had positive experiences over the two years she has lived there, adding that the complex has friendly staff and consistently holds fun events for its residents.
Wang also likes the neighborhood, referencing that she likes to take “peaceful walks” through 195 District Park and enjoys the view from her apartment overlooking the river. She added that the shuttle service to and from campus is “really convenient.”
Not all students are able to live in University housing like Wang, though. Spots in River House and other campus accommodations fill up quickly, according to Kevin LoGiudice ScM’21 GS, the president of the Graduate Student Council.
River House only offers housing accommodations to graduate and medical students for up to two years, with priority given to first-year students, according to the waitlist application.
Sharanya Renjit GS, the chair of international advocacy on the GSC, said that students must formally accept their offers from Brown before applying to University housing options like River House. This means that any delays accepting offers can prevent students from securing University graduate housing, she added.
Renjit also said that students can be susceptible to scams as they look for housing, sharing an instance where she had signed a lease with roommates but never heard back from the landlord.
“Thankfully, we did not pay anything, but I know of some students who do end up paying an amount to book their house and then the landlord just disappears,” Renjit said.
Ultimately, she felt “extremely lucky” to have secured “a really good house near the University.”
Both Renjit and LoGiudice also pointed out the possibility for a further increase in housing demand due to the University’s potential plans to double the graduate student population in the next several years.
“There is no short-term solution to the housing challenges of greater Providence,” Hamdan and Luipold wrote. “Brown will continue to evaluate future housing options in concert with other University requirements.”
Ian Ritter is a senior staff writer covering graduate schools and students. He is a sophomore from New Jersey studying Chemistry and International and Public Affairs. When he’s not at the Herald, you can find him playing clarinet or explaining the rules of kickball to confused listeners.
