Ask anyone who has been to college recently, or is paying for someone else to go, getting higher education comes at an ever-higher cost these days and there’s not too much you can do to lessen the burden. However, a new analysis by Redfin brokerage has found one way to make a college career into real estate investment opportunity.
Surveying monthly dorm rents at almost 200 U.S. public college campuses in comparison with the local city’s median monthly mortgage rates for condos, the brokerage triangulated 47 places where it’s a better use of money to buy a condo.
Take a look at the top 15 colleges where prices and housing demand among students ensure that opting for a condo over a dorm is the best investment.
1
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $545
Monthly dorm rent: $811
Monthly difference: $266
2
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $1,116
Monthly dorm rent: $1,139
Monthly difference: $23
3
University of South Carolina-Columbia
Columbia, SC
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $511
Monthly dorm rent: $671
Monthly difference: $160
4
Kent State University at Kent
Kent, OH
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $664
Monthly dorm rent: $751
Monthly difference: $87
5
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Baton Rouge, LA
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $731
Monthly dorm rent: $837
Monthly difference: $105
6
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY
(David Har/Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $650
Monthly dorm rent: $866
Monthly difference: $217
7
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $730
Monthly dorm rent: $876
Monthly difference: $146
8
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus
Norman, OK
(Nicholas Benson)
Monthly mortgage: $470
Monthly dorm rent: $752
Monthly difference: $282
9
The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $441
Monthly dorm rent: $546
Monthly difference: $105
10
The University of Texas at Dallas
Richardson, TX
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $693
Monthly dorm rent: $769
Monthly difference: $76
11
University of Akron
Akron, OH
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $733
Monthly dorm rent: $780
Monthly difference: $47
12
University of Delaware
Newark, DE
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $605
Monthly dorm rent: $813
Monthly difference: $208
13
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, NC
(Pilotguy/Wikipedia)
Monthly mortgage: $487
Monthly dorm rent: $715
Monthly difference: $228
14
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $427
Monthly dorm rent: $570
Monthly difference: $143
15
Miami University-Oxford
Oxford, OH
(Wikimedia Commons)
Monthly mortgage: $489
Monthly dorm rent: $831
Monthly difference: $342
[Redfin] — E.K. Hudson