Moving into your first college apartment can be an incredibly exciting milestone. You’re out of the dorms, you have more space and you might even have a kitchen for the first time since starting college. However, living on your own is costly, especially if landlords change their policies. The Maine Campus interviewed several students following online complaints that popular off-campus housing, The Avenue at Orono, has added new fees and increased pricing for previously more affordable units.
According to Apartments.com, the average cost of rent for a 12-month lease on a 3-bedroom apartment in Orono is $21,336, which is about $7,112 per person if split three ways. This is an increase of 3.8% over last year; though it is lower than the national average, it is a difficult cost of living to maintain, especially when the rentee is a college student with a limited income.
The Avenue at Orono charges about $28,980 for a 12-month lease on a 3-bedroom apartment, which is about $9,660 per person. Additionally, the average cost of groceries in Maine is approximately $372 per month per person, or $4,464 per year. That means that a student living at The Ave would be projected to pay $14,124 per year in housing costs alone. By contrast, it costs $13,814 per year to live on campus with the basic housing and meal plan options.
While most people have roommates, The Ave’s website shows that rent costs more per person to live in one of their 5-bedroom apartments, as opposed to a 3-bedroom unit. Their 3-bedroom apartments cost $805 per month per person and their 5-bedroom apartment costs $810, despite having more tenants to split the costs.
For a while now, there have been student reports of price increases and poor living conditions at The Ave. Allison, a third-year psychology student who requested to be referred to by her first name only, shared that her rent has changed frequently since moving in and noted The Ave’s appliances are often broken.
“They screw you over with random roommates who can be any age and not students, they raise the rent by insane amounts and it’s different almost every month now. And they never fix anything. Our dishwasher has been broken since we moved in, among other important things,” said Allison.
Online reviews are scathing, with a 1-star rating on Yelp and 3.6 stars on ForRent.com. The primary complaints were with costs, poor management and low-quality appliances, with many reviews implying potential renters should look elsewhere for reliable housing while at the University of Maine.
“Beware — do not rent from The Ave. The word that best describes the move-in condition we found is ‘filthy’ (muddy footprints on hard floors, filthy rugs including gum stuck in the carpet). The rental agreement is probably the most onerous I have ever seen so be sure you read it carefully otherwise be prepared for some ‘interesting’ charges when you move out (it won’t matter if you caused zero damages to the apartment). My experience is that The Ave certainly earned their one star reputation,” wrote Yelp user Dennis C. in December of 2024.
In an interview, fourth-year anthropology student Maxim Hill said this is his third year of renting at The Ave, which is his second apartment.
“The rent, utilities and associated costs are honestly just exhausting and I’m kinda done suffering financially to afford living here,” said Hill.
He added that he had to submit maintenance requests every six to eight weeks last year and even more frequently the year before. He also notes that since first moving in, the rent had increased slightly.
“Utilities have definitely increased from when I started living here ($75 a month) to twice that or more during the winter with heating,” said Hill.
He confirmed that he has heard negative comments from other students about their living experiences at The Ave, but he hasn’t personally experienced all of those same issues.
