NYU's plan to make college cheaper: Get students to live with senior citizens

New York University is thinking outside the average dorm to make college more affordable.

With tuition and housing more than $60,000 per year in one of the most expensive cities in the world, the college is having an affordability crisis.

To alleviate some of the costs of living, the private university is launching a pilot program to pair students with older New York City residents with extra room in their apartments.

Some are calling the housing option "grandma's spare room," as The Guardian reported. Students will be living with senior citizens and other residents near the university who may be struggling financially, but have extra space. Students won't be working for their elderly roommates and aren't there to be nurses or caregivers -- everyone is just living the New York dream under the same roof.

The idea was introduced last month in a report from the university's affordability steering committee and working group. It was labeled as a "low-cost intergenerational 'homestay' option." The pilot program -- in partnership with nonprofit group University Settlement, which works with low-income elderly people and families -- is expected to cut housing costs by half, to about $6,000 from more than $13,000.

Only 10 students will be part of the senior living experiment, according to the New York Post, and the university stressed it would select "mature junior and seniors, or graduate students," so party animals and wide-eyed freshmen need not apply.

The housing program is supposed to launch by next fall, which should be enough time to convince older property owners that this is whole intergenerational idea will totally work.