In some schools, students don't lug laundry down to the basement washing machines, or to the Laundromat. Neither do they pack it into a large sack and drag it home to be washed.
Instead, an increasing number of schools are contracting with independent companies who will pick up students' dirty laundry and return it clean - for a price.
Many Ivy League schools and other institutions with affluent students have contracts with companies who offer cleaning, laundry and moving services to students beyond what comes with room and board charges.
According to an Associated Press report, companies like DormAid charge students $60 for two hours of cleaning and $40 to wash and fold three bags of clothes.
Madpackers is a Manhattan-based company that charges $289 for an in-state move, with extra charges for packing services, supplies and limo trips.
Joan Carbone, executive director of the University's Residence Life, said Rutgers offered DormAid to residents of Rockoff Hall when it opened last year, but students weren't interested.
"It was difficult to find a student who can afford the services, but even if there was one, the rest of his suitemates also need to be able to afford them," Carbone said.
Douglass College senior Leah Peticoles said she remembers seeing DormAid offered to Rockoff when she moved in last year.
"I remember seeing [DormAid] and thinking the company had a good idea, but it was too much money, and it's not like I can't do it myself," Peticoles said. "I guess it would be kind of nice, though, if you knew your parents were stopping by to have them clean up your room."
With the increase of colleges adding upscale housing options, DormAid is growing in popularity.
Harvard student Mike Kopko founded DormAid in 2004 at Harvard University and now DormAid is offered at 23 universities across the nation.
Josh Hoffma is a 19-year-old sophomore in New York University's jazz performance program. He took a Madpackers limousine to school this semester, but told the Associated Pres: "Going to school today and living as a young adult in this world is completely different than when they grew up. What could be looked at as spoiled for them, is not necessarily spoiled for us."
Upon hearing the schools where DormAid is offered, Rutgers School of Engineering senior Tim Rodriguez didn't seem surprised about its popularity.
"I'd like to have someone come in and clean my room, but it is too much money," Rodriguez said. "The schools it is offered at seem to be a bit more affluent than Rutgers."
Livingston College senior Jason Chen said he wasn't deterred by the price of DormAid or Madpackers, but still wouldn't use either of the two if they were available at Rutgers.
"I can see how [DormAid and Madpackers] are useful, but it is a matter of self sufficiency to me, hiring a maid would make me feel like I couldn't do it myself," Chen said. "Plus I'm a cheapskate and feel like why should I hire someone to clean my room when I could do it just as easily myself?"
-The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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