Should You Live Off Campus? Ranking The Best And Worst Deals In University Housing

For college students and parents alike, on-campus dormitory housing is most often the default choice for incoming freshmen. For students, on-campus housing can offer an easy introduction into the campus social scene, convenient access to dining options, and critical proximity to those early 11AM classes. For parents, dormitory housing offers an extra measure of comfort as their children leave home.

On-campus housing typically offers additional security, supervision by university personnel, and a community of likeminded peers. Although the benefits of on-campus housing are widely discussed, we haven’t fully explored the cost side of the equation. Each year families across the nation assume that on-campus housing is the most cost effective option. Zumper has set out to fully examine this assumption, analyzing on-campus and off-campus housing costs across more than 300 universities nationwide, and the results may surprise you.
Only 29 of 311 universities analyzed (9.3%) had on-campus housing costs below similar off-campus alternatives. When looking at all Universities in the dataset, the median on-campus housing cost was $452 per month, while the median price for similar off-campus housing was only $234. This price difference represents a $1,969 premium for living on-campus during the 2015 – 2016 academic year. Although the overwhelming majority of on-campus housing prices exceeded off-campus options, we wanted to take a deeper look at which Universities offered the most and least affordable on-campus housing within the context of their unique geographic markets.

Most Affordable On-Campus Options

Location, location, location. It’s the real estate agents’ mantra, and proves to be true once again. Not surprisingly, our study found that on-campus housing is often the most affordable option at schools located in major metropolitan areas where the cost of market rate housing outpaces on-campus options.

Topping the list of most affordable options is San Francisco State University (SFSU), where on-campus lodging costs only $840 per month. Although this is equivalent to mortgage payment on an $180,000 property, this is actually considered affordable within San Francisco’s Hot Housing Market. Sharing a 1-bedroom apartment with a roommate within the general vicinity of SFSU would cost you a whopping $1,361. The decision to live on campus in this area will save you $4,689 (38%) over the course of an academic year. Howard University in Washington D.C. comes in second place, where snagging a dorm room will run you only $719 per month, far below the neighborhood average of $1,038. Our third spot goes to Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. At Thomas Jefferson, living on-campus is a bargain at $400 per month, which will save you $2,759 per academic year. See our full list below. Similar to San Francisco State University, all of these schools are located in extremely high cost of living areas. Given these economic conditions, we recommend using that student discount when it comes to making a housing decision.

Least Affordable On-Campus Options

On the other end of the spectrum, we found that on-campus housing is the least affordable option in markets where a plethora of inexpensive off-campus alternatives exist. These markets tend to be characterized by a healthy supply of affordable housing and a lack of geographic constraints preventing construction of sufficient supply to meet housing market demands.

Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina takes first place as being the worst deal in on-campus housing in the United States. At Wake Forest University living in on-campus student housing will cost you $889 per month. Although this is in line with national median dormitory pricing, similar off-campus housing is available for only $178 per month. This gap represents a whopping 401% differential is housing cost between on-campus and off-campus options, and requires an additional cash outlay of $6,403 per academic year. Arizona State University in Phoenix, AZ takes second place, where living on-campus will cost you an additional $6,067 per academic year (271%). Third place goes to Rice University in Houston, TX, where off-campus housing can be had for a bargain at $388 per month, that’s $590 less than the cost of a dormitory. See our full list below.
Making a housing decision is an important step in ensuring that students are setup for successful academic careers. As with most things in life, one size doesn’t fit all. Cost is only one component of an important lifestyle decision that will impact both students and parents. On-campus housing may be more expensive in most instances, but may provide benefits that off-campus options simply can’t provide. Ultimately, the decision is a deeply personal one, but Zumper has the tools and data to help make sure you get it right. With more than 1 million active listings and advanced search filtering, finding an apartment that fits your criteria is convenient and stress-free.

Appendix: Methodology

For our analysis we calculated monthly and academic year (nine months) total housing costs for both on-campus and off-campus housing. On-campus room charges were pulled from the National Center For Education Statistics. NCES data points assume double occupancy (two students per room). Off-campus housing costs were calculated from Zumper listings within the immediate vicinity of a given University. Rent was divided by the number of bedrooms in a given unit to yield a “price per bedroom”. Those rents were then divided in half, assuming two students will occupy each bedroom, mirroring a dormitory environment.

Full Ranking – Best & Worst Deals In On-Campus Housing

Search school name below to explore the table.