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**U.S. Student Housing Occupancy Hits Second-Highest Level Since 2019**
U.S. student housing occupancy reached 95.1% at the start of the 2025 academic year, according to the latest data from Yardi Matrix. This marks the second-highest occupancy level since 2019 and reflects continued strength in preleasing activity across the country. The trend remained consistent throughout the year, leading to strong fall move-ins across approximately 1,600 student housing properties serving institutions tracked by Yardi’s 200-college index.
A majority of these schools — 112 in total — saw occupancy increase year-over-year. However, 73 institutions reported lower occupancy compared to the same period in 2024. Only 32 schools failed to reach the 90% occupancy threshold this year, a notable improvement from the 50 schools that fell short of that mark in the previous year.
Despite robust occupancy rates, rent growth across the Yardi 200 has slowed. As of September 2025, rent growth stood at just 0.8% year-over-year, a significant drop from 4.5% reported at the beginning of the academic season. More than half of the tracked markets posted lower annual rent growth compared to 2024. Still, a number of markets outperformed the national trend, achieving stronger leasing season rent gains than the previous year.
These findings underline the continued demand for student housing, even amid a shifting rent landscape.
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