How to find affordable college housing in the Twin Cities

University of Minnesota student Alex Marvine remembers his first search for off-campus housing about halfway through his freshman year, wanting a place close enough to walk to classes but also far enough to avoid high rent.

It only took a month for Marvine and his future roommate he had met in the dorms to sign a lease on the apartment they would live in for the next two years.

“We lucked out,” Marvine said. “We moved to a place off campus that was recently bought by the university, so the landlord wasn’t predatory.”

But not all housing searches are as quick and affordable. Marvine decided to live alone closer to campus for his senior year, but that nearly doubled his rent. He also started his search later, in March.

“A lot of the more reasonably priced places fill up pretty fast,” he said. “So I think it’s a good idea to start looking in December or January for a really good price and location.”

For students such as Marvine, the search for college housing near Minnesota campuses can be challenging, from managing budgets to potential landlords to roommates and more. Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student at any of the University of Minnesota campuses, St. Thomas, Dunwoody or others, here are some practical tips to help secure a place to live while going to school that keeps costs in check.

At a Big Ten school such as the U, with its more than 40,000 students all vying for housing, starting the search early makes a difference.

Students who wait too long before searching for housing, are left with fewer, more expensive options. Even for those planning to live on campus, earlier is better.

Eighty percent of all first-year students at the U live in on-campus residence halls, according to Susan Stubblefield, the school’s director of housing and residential life.

“Housing assignments are made based on the date of a student’s housing application,” Stubblefield said in an email. “While housing applications are accepted into May, applying in November — when the process starts — puts you in a better position to get one of your preferred living options.”

For students who decide to live on campus, Stubblefield said the U offers specific housing scholarships and job opportunities to help students subsidize their housing. For example, serving as a community adviser in a residential hall covers the cost of room and board.

Recent graduate student Ellise Fedor was nervous at first to move too far away from the U’s campus.

“I wasn’t familiar with the city, and it felt overwhelming to consider living farther out,” she said, adding she was unsure of relying on public transportation.

Now, Fedor encourages current students to consider neighborhoods outside of the immediate U area, especially given all the resources for commuters.

U students who pay the university’s transportation and safety fee receive a Universal Transit Pass that provides unlimited access to city buses and the light rail. Students could also drive to campus and park for a daily maximum cost of $13 if using a U lot.

Other institutions such as the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul are also well-connected to several transit routes and offer inexpensive transit pass options.

For U students, Marvine suggested neighborhoods such as Como and Marcy-Holmes as nearby options to consider along main bus lines.

Many online tools and resources can help students with their search.

The U, for example, keeps an interactive map of available off-campus rentals near the U at listings.umn.edu. The map shows updated listings of open houses, apartments and rooms with the contact information of the landlords and rental companies. The map even shows how close that property is to a transit route.

Sites such as Facebook and Craigslist are also good ways to search for cheaper housing. On Facebook, groups like “University of Minnesota housing & roommates” allow people to post openings, find roommates and connect with landlords. Other colleges have their own iterations of these pages. Facebook Marketplace allows people to post rooms and apartments available for rent.

Craigslist has more than 9,000 listings for apartments and houses for rent in the Twin Cities. Searchers can sort by price, number of rooms, amenities and neighborhoods.

Individuals post many of these online listings rather than corporate property-management companies. While that can make the price cheaper, prospective renters should be wary of scams or potential safety risks.

Exercise caution, never pay someone before seeing a property and, if a deal feels too good to be true, it probably is.

Sharing the costs of rent, utilities and household supplies with roommates can significantly cut the cost of housing.

According Marquette Advisors data, the average rent for a one-bedroom in east Minneapolis — the region encompassing the neighborhood near the U, for example — is $1,276 a month. The average cost for a two-bedroom is $1,436 a month and a three-bedroom is $2,011 a month.

Roommates allow students to divide the cost and share responsibilities, such as doing dishes or shoveling the walkway.