FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Contact: Ray Carter, House Media Capitol: (405) 557-7421  Contact: State Rep. Mike Reynolds Capitol: (405) 557-7337 Oklahoma City: (405) 691-1650  Lawmaker Seeks to Overturn OU Mandate  OKLAHOMA CITY (July 21) - Saying the university's new rule requiring all freshman students to live on campus makes college unaffordable for many families, State Rep. Mike Reynolds hopes to make the mandate illegal.  	"Since administration officials have rejected my request to return to their previous policy, I will file legislation to ensure that no taxpayer-subsidized schools can require students to live on campus," said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. "That's not a necessary part of a college education."  	In a letter sent to the parents of OU freshmen, Boren wrote that "the experience lost by not living on campus truly diminishes the educational experience."  	Reynolds disagrees, saying the new rule "is about paying for their dormitories, not about giving the students a good educational experience."  	He noted that dorm occupancy rates at OU have ranged between 86 percent and 92 percent in recent years, according to Boren. Reynolds predicted the new rule may eliminate much of the surplus space.  	Although OU's written policy in the past required students younger than 20 to live on campus, exemptions were easily obtained, therefore it was rarely enforced. Now the school requires all students to live on campus unless they have a medical or religious reason to receive an exemption.  	For the families who were not expecting to pay dorm rent, the new rule increases the cost of college by up to $8,000 per year.  	"I had a constituent that didn't take scholarships to go to other universities because she wanted to go to OU," Reynolds said. "She applied. She got in. And then OU said, 'You've got to live on campus.' They changed the policy after it was too late for her to go to any of the other schools that offered scholarships."  	The average cost for a year of classes at OU is already more than $4,300, Reynolds noted, an increase pf 6.5 percent compared to last year. That increase came on top of a statewide average 9.2 increase in 2004 and an average tuition hike of 18 percent in 2003.  	Reynolds noted the extra $8,000 for a dorm room at OU represents nearly 20 percent of the median family income of $40,709 in Oklahoma, according to the 2000 Census.  	Of the 3,200 freshmen expected to attend OU this fall, only 226 have been granted housing exemptions so far, according to a recent news report.  	"If we allow this at OU, then every other school will require their students to room on campus to 'get a good educational experience,'" Reynolds said. "There's no reason for us to force Oklahoma families to fork over 20 percent of their income so their kid can live on campus when they could have lived at home or less expensive housing is available."  -30-