Already the city has spent more on legal fees than the $14 million that the public housing would cost.

Dayton students seem generally amenable to the move, even though on-campus housing and meal plans will cost them at least $200 more than landlord housing and feed-yourself arrangements.

The Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development, Abraham Biderman, said the housing would cost "a few million dollars."

Federal standards say that housing should not cost more than 30 percent of a family's income, but on Long Island a third of the population spends more, the study said.

But affordable housing does cost municipalities, said Robert Yaro, executive director of the Regional Plan Association.

Mary Jean Connors, senior vice president for human resources, said relocation consultants estimated that housing would cost 2.5 times as much in San Jose.

There is significant support for the contention that supportive housing also costs less than other systems where its tenant base may reside, such as jails, hospitals, mental health facilities, and even shelters.

The housing will probably cost each student about $350 to $450 a month, he said.

The housing also costs less.

The Administration argued that public housing would cost more to build than equivalent private housing and that low-income tenants could be provided housing through other programs that are less wasteful.