In honor of the 2025 March Madness Tournament, let’s examine how all 64 schools that made the tournament stack up in a bracket, comparing the percentage of students requiring off-campus housing – a driving factor for student housing developers.
Fall 2024 enrollment and on-campus student housing capacity were used to calculate the number of students needed off-campus housing.
Round of 64
Universities from the four major NCAA sports conferences—Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 10 Conference, Big 12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC)—were seen to advance further in the bracket compared to smaller private liberal arts colleges. There were 10 matchups from the first round that followed this trend. This is due to some Power Four universities not having an on-campus living requirement and large enrollment numbers.
Annual enrollment growth over the past few years has been a common trend among these universities and has contributed to on-campus housing scarcity. Power Four schools participating in the March Madness tournament saw an average enrollment grow 1.6% annually. Broken down by conference, universities’ enrollment growth averaged 3.2% in the SEC, 2.2% in the Big 12, 1.3% in the Big 10, and remained even in the ACC.
Growing student populations at these universities have led to a housing crisis at certain universities. For example, enrollment was up 5.6% from one year prior during the Fall 2024 semester at the University of Kansas, which resulted in some students being denied housing. The lack of on-campus options has driven demand for off-campus alternatives.
Round of Four
The last four universities consisted of University of New Mexico from the South Region, University of Nebraska Omaha from the West Region, University of Wisconsin from the East Region, and Utah State University from the Midwest Region.
The University of Wisconsin is the only school in the last four that has a large student population, exceeding 50,000 students, which is a factor in off-campus housing demand. Though there were other schools with high enrollment, Wisconsin prevailed in the East due to its lack of a residential requirement unlike rivals within the bracket where first-year students must live on campus.
While the other three universities’ enrollment was under 30,000 students, they provide limited on-campus housing options since a large majority of their students are from surrounding areas. The out-of-state student populations for these universities range from 10% to 30%.
Champion
Emerging as the champion of our bracket is the University of New Mexico – highlighting the university’s unique position in the student housing landscape, where a significant portion of its student body requires off-campus accommodations. Keep an eye out for a deeper look at the student housing market for the champion in the coming weeks.
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