Amid the pressures of midterms and exams, students are already scrambling to secure housing for the 2025-26 school year, barely three months into the current one. Upperclassmen are rushing to re-sign current leases or find new housing and roommates, while freshmen face the housing search for the first time.
Limited availability, rising rent prices and competitive roommate hunts are pushing students to sign leases as fast as possible.
“I started looking when I got back to school because Magnolia’s mass lease renewal was at the end of September,” said Caroline McDonald, a sophomore elementary education major living at Magnolia Park Apartments. “It was so early that I had to look for either something else or re-sign for Magnolia. So, I started looking literally when I moved back into GCSU.”
After a stressful housing search last year, McDonald was determined to search early. Even though upperclassmen had warned her about the scarcity of affordable, convenient and good condition housing, she found that by the time she was ready to sign, her options were narrowing fast.
“Freshman year everyone told me they get gone fast. That stressed me out, and I was like, oh wait, I need to sign now,”McDonald said. “This year I didn’t want to make the same mistake, so I looked extra early.”.
Lillian Winn, a sophomore mass communication major, chose to re-sign her apartment at Prospect Milledgeville after facing similar pressures last fall.
“I am re-signing with the same girls that I’m living with right now, but last year I started looking probably September, if not October,” Winn said.
Not even halfway through the school year, students are expected to find compatible roommates and sign leases before rent prices rise or availability disappears. Some students sign first and hope to match with friends later, while others take their chances with random roommates.
“When I knew who I was living with, I saw that they were going to jack up the prices really quickly. So, we all signed as soon as possible,” Winn said.
McDonald believes the housing process has only gotten more competitive this year, with limited apartments and houses near campus. Students are comparing rates and weighing factors such as utilities, amenities, furnishings, location, safety and convenience.
“Most people want to live in a house, I would say, or closer to campus, but they’re really hard to get unless you know people. It’s super competitive to get close to campus and most of the time, people just have to settle for somewhere they have to drive in from,” McDonald said.
For students like McDonald who already live in apartments, the early decision is whether to re-sign despite rising rent prices or search for a better deal. After Magnolia raised rates by $50 a month, McDonald decided to secure a house near campus with two other girls.
According to Aparments.com, rent in Milledgeville has increased by 2.3% in the past year. Average monthly rent ranges between $700 to $1000, with about 40% of rentals falling between $1001 to $1,500. While some complexes have raised prices, others encourage students to re-sign by guaranteeing their current rates.
“My rent has not gone up, thankfully. They gave us opportunities just to keep our current rent since we all were re-signing, which is nice,” Winn said.
According to GCSU’s Off-Campus Housing Marketplace and Arcadia’s website, as of October 2025 a four-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment in Milledgeville rents for as low as $700 at College Station and as high as $889 at Arcadia. Apartments at Revelry Flats, Bellamy, Magnolia Park and The Oaks range from $704 to $1,099 a month depending on size, occupancy, utilities and location.
Townhomes and houses are also options, but their availability is limited, and they often lack the conveniences and amenities found in apartment complexes.
GCSU has continued to see record enrollment each year, welcoming over 7,200 students this fall. As freshman classes grow, housing availability continues to shrink.
“Since the freshman classes are getting bigger, every year it’s getting a little bit more competitive,” Winn said.
To aid students in their search, GCSU offers an Off-Campus Housing Marketplace at https://offcampushousing.gcsu.edu/listing.