Cayla Witty chose to live at Watkins Scholarship Hall for one reason: It’s cheap.

Witty, a Kansas University freshman from Wakefield, is using scholarships and a salary from working at Old Navy to pay for college. She’s not happy her room bill likely will increase $300 — or 32.7 percent — next year.

“That $300 is a big chunk out of my savings,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be a challenge next year.”

The 100 women who live in Watkins and Miller scholarship halls each would pay an additional $300 per year — or a total of $1,218 — under a proposal to be considered Thursday by the Kansas Board of Regents.

The average proposed increase for all KU residence and scholarship halls and apartments is 3.1 percent, or $156. Residents of McCollum Hall will pay $78 more next year, or $2,576 for room and board.

Because a trust fund established by Elizabeth Miller Watkins subsidizes rents for residents of Watkins and Miller scholarship halls, residents there pay $816 per year less for their rooms than other scholarship hall residents. Miller and Watkins residents prepare their own meals, so food is not included in their rent bills.

Even though they’re still paying less than others, some residents of Watkins and Miller are wondering if the university is raising costs there as backlash for a lawsuit some residents filed in 2001, accusing KU and the Watkins trustee, Bank of America, of not spending interest on the trust for building maintenance.

“It appears it’s retaliation,” Witty said.

Ken Stoner, director of student housing, denied the allegation.

Watkins Scholarship Hall residents Katie Pretz, left, a Kansas University senior from Osawatomie, and Cayla Witty, a Wakefield freshman, right, share a meal with their guest, Lindsay Dodds, an Olathe senior. Students at Watkins are being asked to pay about 33 percent more to live at the hall next year. The three dined together Thursday at the hall.

“I hope it isn’t seen that way,” he said. “It’s still the best deal in town. It’s still a phenomenal rate.”

But Stoner did admit a ruling involving the lawsuit was one of three reasons why rents will increase next year and likely again in the 2005-2006 school year.

During the court proceedings, a judge ruled that the university must use all the money generated from the trust fund each year, instead of saving some for larger expenses. Because of that, tuition money will be needed to create a reserve fund for big expenses, he said.

But Stoner said two other factors were more important in determining the increases. He said the trust fund — like most investment funds — hadn’t been generating as much interest earnings due to the downturn in the economy in recent years, and improvements at the halls — including installation of central air conditioning — had added to operating expenses.

“The amount of the subsidy has been declining in recent years, so we have to make an adjustment on that,” he said.

KU increases among lowest KU student housing information

The residents who were suing KU dropped most of their charges in the lawsuit in September, saying improvements had been made in the halls. A status conference later this month is scheduled to resolve remaining issues in the case.

Lindsay Poe, president of the Student Committee for the Preservation of Miller and Watkins Scholarship Halls, said the rent increase was an unfortunate byproduct of the lawsuit, even if it’s one of several factors involved.

Poe, a senior, said she and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit “felt awful” when they learned of the rate hike.

“This isn’t what we wanted to have happen at all,” she said. “We wanted to protect (the halls). This is never something we anticipated.”