Housing

Home Stay Packet for Students
When the term “home-stay” is used, most students think of a very traditional family setting in which they participate in the life of the host family. Students assume that the father of such a traditional family will typically be gone during the week, that the mother will be at home to take care of the household and those living in it, and that children pursue their schooling and other interests, but that they also spend considerable time at home. Students also assume that such home-stays are made available by host families voluntarily, i.e. free of charge to the international students. None of these assumptions are correct.

While a traditional lifestyle still prevails with some American families, these are only a very small percentage of the population. Today, many families have only one adult in the household, often the mother, or families have been restructured in connection with divorce and re-marriage of one or both adults. Where a traditional family structure exists, usually both the mother and the father work and are gone most of the week. This means that household chores and errands have to be handled on the weekend. Teenage children are absent from home much of the time. They are in school until well into the afternoon and then usually have various activities and often don’t return home until evening. In such a family, there may not be a common mealtime, because the family members are not usually at home at the same time. Individuals often prepare their own meals or help themselves to meals that have been prepared and stored for later consumption. Everyone participates in household chores and takes responsibility for his or her own needs.

What should an international student expect from a home-stay?
The student should expect to take care of his/her own room. That means, making the bed, straightening up, dusting, doing one’s own laundry, vacuuming, etc., and usually preparing most of one’s own meals. The facilities and equipment for all these things are provided in a home-stay. For example, the student will be taught how the washing and drying machines and other such household appliances work. In some home-stays the host will provide some meals or the food for meals. In others, it is expected of the student to purchase his/her own food. If the student accompanies the family to a restaurant, he/she should pay for his/her own meal.

While the student will have some contact with the host family, it will probably be infrequent. The student will most likely have much more contact with other students at the college, for example, as that is the place where students spend most of their time during the week.

A home-stay does have considerable advantages, though. A newly arrived student immediately moves into a house with a private room, all the facilities of a complete household, and has some immediate guidance during the first few days in the United States. Especially in the beginning it is helpful not having to bother with furniture purchases, contracting for gas, water, and electricity, and having available those services a student would have to find on his/her own in a living arrangement other than a home-stay.

The range in cost for a home-stay is usually $400 – $450 per month. The home-stays lowest in price and closest to the college will be available to those students who send in their Home-Stay Services Desired form first; assignments are made depending on availability of home-stays. If a student submits the request for a home-stay early enough, a copy of the host’s contract will be sent to the student ahead of time and a copy of the student’s Home-Stay Services Desired form will be provided to the host. The contract establishes certain rules of the household and shows which services will be provided to the student (for example whether it is acceptable to smoke in the household, whether there are pets, how many individuals live in the household, whether meals will be provided, etc.). Students who send their home-stay requests close to the time of their arrival will receive the contract from the host upon their arrival. Hosts require that students make their home-stay commitment for one semester at a time. That means, if the student wishes to move to another housing option, he/she must do so at the end of a semester or else forfeit (give up) the security deposit.

Hosts usually meet the new student at the airport and will be available to help him/her settle in. This eases the transition for the student considerably. Apartments are available, including in the direct vicinity of the college. However, they are unfurnished and a student will have to purchase furniture and general household equipment (pots, pans, dishes, etc.) to live in an apartment. The cost is also fairly high, as not only rent but also utilities have to be paid on a monthly basis. It usually takes several weeks or even months for an apartment to become available. A student may choose to live in a home-stay for the first semester and use that time to find a suitable apartment and make all preparations while having comfortable housing in the meantime.

Deadlines for applying for a homestay:

For entry in the Fall Semester (mid-August): April 1st
For entry in the Spring Semester (early January): October 1st
For entry in the Summer term (early June):  February 1st

Black Hawk College does not own or operate dormitories. Students who are not living with family or friends near the College or enter a home-stay are responsible for their own accommodations. Students will not be placed in a home-stay until all required paperwork has been completed.

Introduction to Home-Stays for Hosts

• Home-Stay Packet for Hosts
• Contract Between Host and Student

Dear Prospective Host:
Thank you for expressing an interest in becoming a host for international students at Black Hawk College! Please click on Home-Stay Packet for Hosts and print the file that opens. It is your starting point for becoming an International Student Host with Black Hawk College. There are several steps involved in completing the process:

• Your completion of the forms
• Processing of the forms by my office and our Office for Public Safety
• Visit to your home by a representative of Black Hawk College
• Placement of a student or students

Your completion of the paperwork and processing of the forms:
In the packet you will find several forms. You must complete all forms and submit them to my office. Incomplete forms will delay the process. However, I encourage you to call me with any questions or concerns you may have as you work through these documents.

In addition to the paperwork contained in the Host Packet, you will require one additional form that must be requested by phone (309-796-5186) or e-mail zertuchej@bhc.edu from my office: It is called the Conviction Information Name Check Request and gives our Public Safety Office permission to conduct a background check on each member of your household aged 18 years or older. The investigation is conducted by the Black Hawk College Public Safety Office, i.e. by regular police officers, and accesses information available in state and federal databases. The resulting report will come to me and will be held in the strictest confidence. However, if the report shows that a member of your household has been convicted of a felony, you will be ineligible to host a Black Hawk College student. If so, I will inform you of this fact. You are entitled to the information contained in the form and I will provide it upon request.

Please complete the form carefully and accurately. If any of the required information is not completed, the request cannot be processed. Individuals for whom we do not have this document on file are not eligible to host a Black Hawk College student.

Placement of Students
Once the above processing has been concluded satisfactorily, we will have you on file as an “active” host. When a student applies for a home-stay, the student provides us with information about such matters as food requirements, allergies, smoking, etc. This enables us to make the best match between the student and a host. Once we have this information we contact you (usually by phone) with an inquiry whether or not you can accept the student. If you agree to accept the student, you will receive the student’s information sheet, travel itinerary and related information as soon as we receive it from the student. You will also receive a copy of the student’s orientation schedule, so that you can see which services we provide. These are matters in which the assistance of the host is usually not required. (We help students obtain their social security number and a bank account, handle their language testing, advising, registration, and much more).

Once the student has arrived in your household, your interaction with Black Hawk College will be very informal. If you require any kind of information and/or assistance, we encourage you to contact us. We would rather assist in a very small problem than wait until it becomes a big problem, so please do not feel that questions that arise are too insignificant to call. At this point you will find that the student needs to learn how the various appliances in your household function and what the general habits of your household are.

A host orientation will be held early in the new semester; once you are on file with us as either a prospective or active host, you will receive an invitation in the mail about 3 weeks in advance. It will be an informal gathering of new and prospective hosts as well as veterans who have been hosting for many years. This will give you the opportunity to network a little and benefit from the questions and comments others have to share. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

About Apartments
Black Hawk College cannot rent an apartment on your behalf. If you wish to rent an apartment, you must make all the arrangements yourself, including an up-front payment and application.

Several large apartment complexes are located in the immediate vicinity of the Quad Cities Campus of Black Hawk College. A number of international students live there and have found the arrangement very practical, because of the short walking distance to classes. However, before renting an apartment, an international student should be aware of the advantages and drawbacks of renting.

The advantages of renting one’s own apartment include privacy without the need to consider others living in the same residence, independence in regard to such issues as smoking, pets, food preparation, and others. A student who rents an apartment has only himself or herself to consider and the specific rules of the apartment complex (for example at what hours residents must keep quiet and not play loud music). However, there are also a number of disadvantages, and they are particularly great for an international student who has just arrived in the United States.

Apartments are described as “studio” or “efficiency” or as 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, or 3-bedroom apartment. A studio or efficiency consists of one large room that is a combination sleeping and living room, a kitchen or kitchen area, and a bathroom. Such an arrangement is usually sufficient for one individual with modest needs, but is usually too small for more than one resident.

The term “bedroom” means just that. A 2-bedroom apartment, for example, has 2 bedrooms. It also typically has a living room, sometimes with an attached dining area, as well as a kitchen and bathroom. The larger the number of bedrooms, the larger is the remainder of the apartment. For example, a 3-bedroom apartment will usually have a larger living room and maybe a separate dining room, while a 1-bedroom apartment will usually have a smaller living room and only a relatively small area where an eating table can be placed. It is rare to find 4-bedroom or larger apartments in this geographic area, because someone who wishes to have that much living space would most likely buy a house.

The cost for apartments varies widely, depending on size, quality of the building and part of town where the apartment is located, and more. The cheapest efficiency or 1-bedroom apartment usually costs more than $350 per month to rent. A nice 3-bedroom apartment can easily cost more than $650 per month. Of course, students can attempt to find another student with whom to share an apartment. The risk is that one of the students may move out at some point, leaving the remaining student with the entire financial burden until (and if) another roommate can be found.

American apartments are usually equipped with a fully functional bathroom and a fully functional kitchen. That means, the bathroom contains a shower or bathtub, a sink, usually with a small cabinet, and a toiled. Sometimes there is an additional cabinet or storage item for towels and the like. Kitchens are equipped with built-in kitchen cabinets, a stove, a refrigerator, a sink, and sometimes also a dishwashing machine and/or garbage disposal. Most rooms will have light fixtures in them, with the exception of the living room. A typical American household has table and/or floor lamps in the living room rather than a ceiling fixture.

Before a person can live in such an apartment, much more is needed, of course. Furniture and day-to-day equipment is required, including a bed and dresser, a table with chairs, and any other furniture the student wishes to have, sheets, towels, plates, cups, eating and cooking utensils, and more. The amount of money required to set up a new household is considerable, and when the student leaves after completing his or her program of study, many of these things can be re-sold for only very little and a financial loss is incurred. Furnished apartments are very rare in this area and if they can be found are very expensive. For example, a 2-bedroom furnished apartment in a reasonably nice location will cost more than $800 per month. This includes furniture but not the day-to-day equipment required for apartment living.

Aside from the equipment for an apartment, some additional costs will occur. If the student wishes to have a telephone, installation costs and monthly bills will result. Such utilities as gas, electricity, and water are usually included in the rent of an apartment. Some agreements require that the renter pay for the consumption of water, which usually is somewhere between $25 and 30 per month, if the person is not wasteful.

The renting of an apartment involves a contract and sometimes a “lease.” A lease is a special contract, which requires a commitment of 6 or 12 months. That means, if a student signs a lease for 12 months and moves out after 9 months, he/she must nevertheless pay the rent for the entire 12 months of the lease. A contract usually requires that the student merely give 30 days or more notice of the intention to move out to the manager of the apartment.

To rent an apartment, one must first apply with the management or owner of the apartment or apartment complex. (There is usually a management office on the site of apartment complexes.) When submitting the application, the applicant also pays a security payment, often in combination with the rent for the first month. The security deposit is often the same amount as the monthly rent. A student who applies for a 1-bedroom apartment that costs $400 per month to rent would therefore have to pay at least $400 at the time of application, possibly $800, depending on the rules of that particular complex.

One item on the apartment application form will ask about your employment. Many apartment managers are hesitant to rent to an individual who is not regularly employed. Of course, an international student cannot be employed, because such employment is forbidden by law. Some apartment complexes solve this problem by having a student pay for the entire length of the lease up front. That means, if you were to rent an apartment that costs $400 per month, and if you had a lease for 6 months, you would have to pay $2,400 at the time you rent the apartment. After the initial lease expires, the student will be permitted to pay on a monthly basis. Other apartment managers simply do not know the law and how it affects an international student, but they are willing to attempt a good solution for everyone. In such a case, the International Student Program Coordinator provides a letter to the apartment manager explaining the law regarding international students.

It is very common for international students at Black Hawk College to move to a home-stay for the first semester of their studies in the United States. While such a home-stay is not much cheaper than an apartment on a monthly basis, the student will arrive in the U.S. and find a comfortable room in a fully equipped house and with assistance from the host.

Information for Managers of Rental Property
Dear Property Manager:
You may have many years’ experience renting to international students or you may just be processing your first application from an international student ever. In either event, the information provided here may be useful to you. By and large, international students have the same needs as any domestic tenant would. However, their legal and cultural situation is different, and particularly the law regarding international students may have an impact on whether they fulfill the requirements of your established application process. If you have any question regarding renting to an international student, please do not hesitate to contact me at 309-796-5186 or zertuchej@bhc.edu.

International students and the law
International students (students in F-1 status) are by law prohibited from general employment and may only engage in very limited on-campus employment. Any international applicant who wishes to come to the United States to study must prove to a representative of the US Department of State that the funds for the entire time of study in the US, including tuition, living expenses, medical insurance, books, supplies, etc. are available in order to obtain a visa. At the port of entry into the U.S., the student must prove the same to an officer of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. In other words, such students’ livelyhood is guaranteed by the money they had to accumulate before coming to the U.S., not by working here to make a living.

Like any other applicant, international students enjoy the full protection of the Constitution of the United States in regard to discrimination and related matters.

General circumstances of international students:
International students, by virtue of the fact that they have recently arrived in the U.S. from a foreign country, often cannot by themselves meet the standard requirements of typical rental applications. They usually do not have a previous landlord in the United States, they do not have an employer, and they usually do not know any residents in this area (or in the U.S.) who could guarantee their rent and other expenses.

It would be extremely helpful if you could create an alternate process by which such students can qualify as renters. They are no less reliable than American citizens in regard to financial or any other matters. In succeeding to gather the resources required to come to the U.S. as a student and to then engage in college studies in a foreign language is a greater accomplishment than the vast majority of our domestic students can show. One method used by some of the large rental properties near Black Hawk College is to require prepayment of a part or all of the rent for the lease time. Other options may exist in your firm. For example, you may be willing to accept a guarantor in a foreign country on the basis of an international credit check. If a student has rented from a local resident in a paid-for room & board arrangement, that resident might qualify as a previous landlord. Other possibilities might exist that are more obvious to you than to me and you may be able to develop a standard alternate process by which individuals can qualify.