As the 2024-25 academic year and college football season kick off, what a great opportunity to compare universities in the Power 4 conferences—not solely based on athletic prowess, but by the fundamentals of student housing.
Following a major shakeup in the primary college sports conferences over the summer, the Power 4 is made up of the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12. A total of 67 universities across the nation now compete within these four conferences. Many of these universities are well known, with many of the largest student bodies of US universities and even larger followings of alumni and fans.
Using a proprietary formula, combining key enrollment metrics with student housing market performance, Cushman & Wakefield’s Student Housing Capital Markets Team has developed a unique method to review how the markets surrounding universities align with student needs. The race to deliver the best student experience is on, and much like in sports, only the strongest, smartest and most innovative will come out on top.
Why Student Housing Matters
Providing housing for the large populations of students at each of these universities is a growing niche within the multifamily capital markets space. Cushman & Wakefield’s Student Housing Capital Markets Team specializes in purpose-built student housing and student-competitive assets in university markets nationally and are experienced across the full spectrum of asset quality, vintage, and deal size, serving both private clients and institutional investors alike.
In our first-of-its-kind study, “Reimagining Cities: Disrupting the Urban Doom Loop,” Urban Universities are deemed fundamental to American cities. These universities, like the other regionally significant, walkable urban places (WalkUPs) studied, are crucial economic engines, with an increasingly important role in not only providing a pipeline of educated talent for the market but also in producing R&D and creating innovation districts that provide significant economic dividends External Link to the local economy. Urban Universities in the cities we studied represent 4.4% of the city’s GDP, while occupying just 2.1% of its total real estate inventory and only 0.9% of the land mass.
Urban Universities are leading the post-pandemic recovery in many cities, with a more than complete recovery in visitor foot traffic—the only WalkUP type to have achieved this. Urban University WalkUPs have recorded an influx of residents, beyond students returning to campus. In 2023, resident foot traffic in Urban University WalkUPs was 80.5% larger than in 2019. Over this time, resident employee foot traffic was up 44%, while non-employee residents (mostly students) surged by 94%. These gains have positive ripple effects on nearby real estate in surrounding areas. The benefits of this recovery have translated into Urban University WalkUPs having had the most resilient overall valuation per square foot of the WalkUPs studied in Reimagining Cities.
In many smaller cities across the U.S., universities and their sports, can provide a major employment and cultural hub, even if these universities are not located in an urban area. And the students who attend these schools can be a significant economic engine. In many cases, university-owned housing is not sufficient for the student population, therefore creating an investment opportunity in student housing. This housing, and how it compares or differs among these universities and the Power 4 conferences, is the focus of this report.
Ranking Methodology
Market rankings have been determined by a set of 18 key metrics: nine of which measure the recent and forecasted enrollment growth of each university and nine measuring the performance of the purpose-built student housing market associated with each university. Each metric was assigned points, with those deemed to be the most critical measures weighted accordingly. The total points earned by each university across all 20 metrics, as compared with its peers in each Power 4 conference, determined that university's final ranking for 2024.
