Students at USC are painfully aware of the high costs that come with attending the school – but $3 for a load of laundry?
Students who live in USC housing know this is the cost of clean clothes, but those who see it as an unnecessary expense are in luck: USG is working towards creating a laundry stipend, similar to the existing fund for printing.
“I think laundry is so ridiculously expensive,” said sophomore Aditya Thiyag. “Not all the students need to print as frequently, but all students need to do their laundry.”
Sophomore Jasmine Elasaad agreed with Thiyag; since she does most of her work digitally, her printing funds go almost entirely unused.
“I think that most students would prefer to have this money allocated for laundry instead of printing since we wash our clothes so frequently,” she said.
USG announced the proposed laundry stipend for USC students in an Instagram post Monday afternoon. The post stated that the project would aim to give students up to $25 to use towards laundry and provided a QR code linked to a feedback form. Currently, the university gives students who live in USC housing $25 per semester towards printing.
The proposed stipend change aims to provide USC housing students increased flexibility in using these funds, including the option to allocate them for laundry services, printing, or even a combination of both.
It would be a game-changer for Elasaad, who prefers to go home and wash her clothes over the weekend to avoid the high laundry prices at USC. While this is feasible for her because she lives nearby, she acknowledged that is not the case for most students.
While the feedback from students Annenberg Media spoke to has been relatively positive, some say it is not nearly enough to cover their laundry expenses for the entire semester. The normal price for a wash cycle is $1.75 and the dryer cycle is $1.25, which comes out to about $3 for a full load.
Assuming students wash their clothes once a week and keep the settings on normal, they would spend $48 on laundry for the 16-week semester. Some students say it would be more beneficial if the stipend was increased to $50 so they would only have to worry about purchasing detergent and dryer sheets.
Diana Carpio, a legislative aide in USG, spearheaded the laundry stipend project after noticing a barrier in accessibility.
“I wanted to make a difference for more people than just myself,” she said. “If you are someone who does laundry, this project affects you.”
As of right now, only students who live in USC housing would receive the stipend, which would be available in their student accounts at the start of each semester.
The feedback form posted on the USG Instagram marks the next step in the process as student feedback is required to move forward with the proposal.
“There is no guarantee that students will receive a laundry stipend yet,” Carpio said, “but any interest that students can provide will greatly help USG advocate for your needs and opinions.”