My name is Ava Duffy and I am a student at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts, where tuition is listed at $48,128 per year, standard on-campus housing at $13,048 per year, and the unlimited dining plan at $7,612 per year. These costs total around $70,000 annually before additional expenses and financial aid. 


Despite the significant cost of attending Dean College, students are still left to pay $1.90 per load of laundry. For students who pay out of their own pocket, this can add up quick, especially when we have to pay multiple times per load of laundry due to machines not working properly. Students have experienced washers that fail to properly spin excess water out of their clothes, leaving them sopping wet when the cycle finishes. For me, one load of laundry sometimes requires two or even three dryer cycles before clothes are completely dry. This means our students are paying multiple times for a basic necessity because the machines are not doing their jobs properly. I have also noticed inconsistent pricing across campus and whether students are receiving the same service for the same price. In some floors/dorm halls on campus, laundry can start at either $1.50, or $1.90. I have pointed out this issue numerous times and have yet to see any change in this. As a student, I should not have to spend additional money, time, and energy correcting problems caused by malfunctioning or ineffective laundry machines.


Laundry is not a luxury, it is a necessity. I want other students to know that we deserve fairness as well as accountability. We pay thousands of dollars to attend Dean College and live in its residence halls. We deserve laundry facilities that work properly, and we deserve to have our concerns taken seriously.

I was curious to know if other students have had these same issues with their laundry services at other universities and colleges across America, and after doing some research I feel even more strongly that we as students need to stand together on this issue. As of Fall 2024, laundry charges were added into housing fees at Massachusetts 9 state universities, allowing their residential students to do laundry without needing to pay separately for each cycle. If other institutions across Massachusetts can find ways to provide laundry without charging students per load, Dean College should be willing to explore the same possibility.

Students at schools including the University of Texas at Austin, Butler University, the University of Delaware, Tufts University, Stonehill College, Grace College, Towson University, and UCLA have raised concerns about similar laundry problems. At Stonehill College here in Massachusetts, students have also reported washers leaving their clothes “soaked in a pool of water” because they were not draining properly. At Butler University, a student reported paying more than $10 for a single load after a washer failed to spin and multiple dryer cycles still left the clothes soaking wet.
We are not alone in this issue, and other students across America have fought for the same thing. Why should we have to repeatedly pay for a basic necessity when the machines we are paying to use do not consistently work? This is a question I’ve raised numerous times during my time here at Dean, and it has always been left unanswered. But now I’m ready to see and make real change happen. I believe myself, as well as other Dean College students deserve to have their concerns heard, and I believe we have the ability to come together and ask for meaningful change.

Please take the time to sign my petition if you feel the same way, and share with your friends, roommates, and classmates to make our voices heard. Parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and members of the Dean community are also welcome to sign and show their support.


I want to thank you for taking the time to sign my petition, now let’s be the start for change today, and make laundry free for all of our students!!