How Student Housing Works

When it comes to student housing, there are three main options for where to live: on-campus housing like dorms, Texas State-owned apartments, and different types of off-campus apartments. There are two options for types of leases to sign: joint and individual. They all come with different pros and cons depending on your lifestyle. 

Signing A Lease

Many individual lease apartments will market their leases by saying they are running out of rooms or attempting to streamline the signing process. Kama Davis, an attorney for students here at Texas State, is a strong advocate against this marketing. There are 27,000 rooms available and 38,000 students at Texas State. At the same time, there are thousands of students who live at home, online students, Round Rock attendees, or live on campus, said Davis. “So that 27,000 is really about 7,000 more than we really need to house the entire population of the student body.” Said Davis. When these apartments say they only have x number of units left, they are usually grossly underestimating. 

For many, this process can be frustrating and time-consuming. “They were constantly raising their rates like every week, so I kind of felt pressured to basically just sign right in there because that was already expensive.” Said a sophomore who recently went on the apartment hunt for the first time.  Many students have been tricked by this marketing tactic, and it’s important for us to be aware of it so we are able to use the best judgment when picking a place to live.

Behind The Facade

Individual lease apartments are notorious for leaving students with maintenance problems, ignoring roommate preferences, and hefty debts once the lease is over, according to Davis. In R/Txstate, one commenter said, “I’m going to tell you right now, any place you sign is going to have a problem waiting for you to discover in your unit. It doesn’t matter how expensive it is, there will be an issue.” 

Even when bad PR catches up to some of the apartment complexes, they slap on shiny new names. One of the most notable changes was Axis at San Marcos from The Avenue Student Apartments, AKA The Ave. This apartment is notorious for leaving maintenance incomplete and marking it as finished, like in Her Campus President Priscilliana Sena’s TikTok. It’s not just the Axis either; many apartments we know have been known as something different in the past, like The Mirage (previously CastleRock) or The Beacon (previously Aspire).

The Freshman Problem 

Texas State has its own unique set of problems when it comes to additions to campus. One in particular is that all freshmen are required to live on campus. The problem itself isn’t that they have to live in the dorms; it is the sheer number of people there are. Over the last 6 years, Texas State has had an increase in freshmen living on campus. According to student enrollment data, there were 4,511 freshmen on campus in Fall 2020, 5,976 in Fall 2022, and 7,201 in Fall 2025.

What We Do Have

Texas State does have some options for upperclassmen housing; they are limited and run on a lottery system. According to Texas State enrollment data upperclassmen on-campus housing is at a high in recent years with 694 juniors and seniors living on campus in Fall 2025. While compared to the last 5 years it is a huge growth climbing from 265 in Fall 2021 but if we look back 10 years the growth isn’t as notable. In Fall 2015 449 upperclassmen were living in on-campus housing. 

More Options Would Benefit Everyone

More on-campus dorms would have a lot of benefits tied directly to them. Having more students actually living on campus would help foster a community within Texas State. Resident Assistant Christ’al Walker said, “It is easier to get to class physically and mentally. I am able to use the on campus resources like the library, office hours, and the hammocks more often. It just gives the full college experience.” 

Bringing more opportunities for upperclassmen on campus would foster a community. According to CampusMind, the third most common reason for college students to drop out is a lack of belonging and social isolation. Letting these students grow and thrive in a community could help raise Texas State’s retention rate, which aligns with their goals. 

It doesn’t just stop at the students; it could open space for new jobs, whether that be student workers like RA’s or Desk Assistants, or for admin roles like those who work for housing and residential life. As well as bringing in money for the school with more people paying to live on campus, people spend more on things like housing payments, food plans, parking passes, and possibly even more in-person classes. So, while we do have some options now, adding a focus on upperclassmen could benefit the university as a whole. Maybe it’s time to stop worrying about having the biggest freshman class and start worrying about how the university will treat returning students. 

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