Laundry prices at the Kasteel Well campus dropped from two euros, or $2.28, per cycle to one euro, or $1.14, starting in the spring 2019 semester.
Kasteel Well Executive Director Dulcia Meijers said in a phone interview that the Netherlands campus adopted the new price for the spring semester after hearing about the change in Boston.
Students can purchase laundry coins, only available in packs of five, with each laundry cycle costing one coin. Previously, students at Kasteel Well paid ten euros for a pack of five laundry coins—now, they will only pay five euros per pack. Washing and drying one load of clothes last semester cost four euros, or $4.60.
While the current cost for laundry at Emerson Los Angeles remains $1.50 per cycle, administrative officials were not able to comment due to their tight schedule during spring orientation on whether or not the price will decrease.
Sophomore Nicole Salvatore studied at Kasteel Well in fall 2018 when the Boston campus made the switch to free laundry. She said she usually spent two coins for washing, since the washing machines were small, and one coin for the drying machine—totaling 3 coins, or $3.42.
“Why do I need to pay for laundry [when] on the Boston campus it’s free?” Salvatore said in an interview.
Salvatore said that, during the Fall 2018 semester, she and some other students calculated the price of laundry at Kasteel Well and emailed President M. Lee Pelton. The college then offered all Kasteel Well students one free pack of laundry coins for the semester.
Meijers said the Kasteel Well administration did not know laundry was free at the Boston campus before the students emailed Pelton.
Meijers said because the Kasteel Well program provides more residential services than the Boston Campus, such as room cleaning, it is unlikely laundry will become free in the future. Meijers said she hopes students consider the laundry fee as a contribution to a cleaner residential environment.
“A little support for all the extra services is worthwhile,” Meijers said.
The Office of Student Affairs at Kasteel Well hires cleaners for the dorms who take out trash, vacuum, and clean the bathrooms throughout the semester. The cleaners also make the beds before students’ arrival, Meijers said. She said that, although the laundry price decreased, the extra services will remain.
“It’s like hotel service,” Meijers said. “When students arrive, everything in their rooms is beautifully done. They just need to pull out their suitcase and fill the cabinet.”
Senior Advisor for Student Affairs Tikesha Morgan helps manage student life at the castle.
“Students can expect to have a clean room when they arrive or go back from their spring break,” Morgan said in a phone interview.
Meijers said the college prefers to keep the students’ dorms clean. She said that, when a cleaning service was not provided in past years, many students would never wash their sheets or quilts.
