Southeast Missouri State University Board of Governors Vice President James P. Limbaugh questioned data published by the Arrow regarding the increase in cost and changes to housing options in Towers East in an open meeting on Thursday.

Limbaugh commented on the validity of the data used in the story, which was published on March 26, 2024.

“I’m curious where the information came from in terms of average room rate of a single bedroom apartment,” Limbaugh said to the board. “To me it skewed the optics of [the costs], it’s skewed that in a manner that was a head scratcher.”

An Arrow infographic used the data to contrast the cost of room and board for the university’s Tower East dorms, which come to a cost of $872 per month, based on the total cost of a single room per school year, $7850, divided by the nine months students will use the dorms. Students dorming in Towers East must also share amenities and common spaces such as a bathroom, kitchen and laundry room.

Board member Lloyd Smith also asked when the governors originally discussed increasing the costs of Towers East.

“I did not remember this particular item being discussed in detail that it was going to go this high but maybe I just dismissed it as a part of the Board meeting,” Smith said.

The Arrow used data from Rent.com in an infographic stating the average rent for a local one-bedroom apartment was $600. Rent.com, a source that has also been cited by Forbes, is a website that advertises places for rent across the country. According to its annual report, rent.com “calculates median rent in cities based on an aggregation of rent prices at each property within a city’s defined boundaries.” The website currently shows at least 16 listings of apartments in Cape Girardeau that rent for $600 or less. Listings on the site range up to $1,300 for one-bedroom luxury apartments.

Limbaugh also commented on apartments in the Cape Girardeau area.

“Because if you contact apartment owners across the city, you can get an apartment, one bedroom apartment for 300 bucks if you want to. That's probably not where you want to be, unless you have to,” Limbaugh said.

The Arrow additionally found data on Apartments.com, which cited an average cost of $588 for a one-bedroom apartment.

Apartments.com provides similar resources for renters and includes square footage and rent increases for the year.

Anecdotally, as of April 18, many apartments in Cape Girardeau near the Southeast Missouri University Campus feature costs ranging from $350-$655.

Cape Trails features a one bedroom listing for $480. They additionally offer promotional rent prices ranging from $350-$430.

Redhawk Commons offers a one bedroom apartment for $655.

Executive Property Management also offers one-bedroom apartments for $600 on Frederick Street.

Further from campus, additional apartments within this same average price are also available.

The District offers a one-bedroom for $614.