The lux is mostly having both a private bathroom and private kitchenette--which I never had as a grad student--although I did have a private room for some of my time. Other than that, a flat panel TV is, what? $300? And slightly nicer looking, in part because it's new, minimalist furniture doesn't add a lot of cost either.

ADDED: This seems to have been originally designed as a hotel or studio apartments but is being leased to Berkeley as grad student housing. They're pretty small as apartments go but are probably on the high-end side for student housing, even grad student.