Kerrey and Loeb Hall were the only dorms at The New School where students had to pay for laundry, but as of Oct. 29, the service has been free of charge. 

This year, TNS equalized all dorm building prices in an effort to create more affordable housing options. Thomas Whalen, vice president of safety and facilities at TNS, previously stated that the university equalized housing prices because they were higher than what other universities charge. Whalen also stated that this equalization made the housing options “a lot cleaner, a lot simpler, and much more affordable for all the students.” 

In a statement to the New School Free Press, the university said, stated that all laundry machines should be free of charge starting this week. Students, however, have been expressing frustration over the discrepancies.

“Why are we paying more? I guess I didn’t mind it before when the dorms cost a different amount of money, but now, I see no reason as to why,” Lily Faamausili said, a second-year resident at Loeb Hall. 

Students pay for laundry through the Hercules app. This app has the option to scan the QR codes on all of the laundry machines or manually enter the machine number. According to residents, because of poor wifi connection, money must be uploaded to the app before going down to the laundry room. 

The washing machines cost 50 cents for a normal and delicate load. A power wash is 90 cents and an extra rinse is 75 cents. All of the options for the dryer cost 50 cents. 

“I’m spending a lot of money on washing my clothes because, I mean, it’s essential,” Yujin Suh said, a first-year resident at Kerrey Hall. 

For a price breakdown, if a student were to theoretically do laundry once a week and select a normal cycle, that would be $1 in total for the washer and dryer. If the dryer did not dry everything fully, another cycle would be required, adding another 50 cents. That comes out to around $6 each month. While this seems like a small amount of money, residents state that it adds up. 

“I don’t love it, to be honest … When I first moved here, I took $30 [into the app], and now I’m down to like $11,” Ana Carol said, a first-year resident at Kerrey Hall. 

While many students were not in favor of paying for their laundry, some didn’t seem to mind it.  First-year architecture student at Parsons School of Design, Justina Lauzan, said, “It’s not super expensive … normally I do laundry once a week … it doesn’t bother me particularly.”

The New School stated that the previous issue that required payment was attributed to a “legacy issue with the laundry contracts,” but will not require further payment in the future.