Loading listings
Fort Hays State University anchors about 15,033 Tigers in Hays, a high-plains town in western Kansas built on limestone and frontier history. The 200-acre campus is famous for its limestone-faced buildings, quarried from the stone that gives the region its look. Hays is compact and easy to navigate, with a downtown along Chestnut Street where students gather and Frontier Park nearby for trails and open space under a big Kansas sky. The town leans hard into its Volga German roots: every fall, Oktoberfest takes over Frontier Park the Friday before homecoming, and the next morning student organizations build floats for the parade before the football game. Most of student life sits within a short walk, and the Memorial Union is the natural hub between classes.
Fort Hays State requires first-year students to live on campus, the standard freshman live-on rule meant to ease the transition and build community. Exemptions typically cover students who live with family within commuting distance, are married, have dependents, are veterans, or are above a certain age. You apply for those through Residence Life.
Once that first year is behind them, most Tigers move into Hays apartments and rental houses, and the process is about as simple as college towns get. Landlords tend to be local, and many are individuals renting out a few units rather than big management companies. That can mean a faster, friendlier handshake, but it also means terms vary a lot, so get everything in writing.
Because terms differ house to house, read carefully before signing. Watch for older houses near campus where heat and snow duties land on you. Confirm parking too, since some streets near campus fill up fast on game days and weekday mornings.
Housing policies change frequently. Always verify current requirements directly with Fort Hays State University before signing a lease.
Hays runs on a relaxed timeline compared to bigger college towns, but the best spots near campus still go to early movers. Sophomores planning their first off-campus year usually start hunting in late winter and early spring, once they know their roommate situation. The houses closest to campus get claimed first. Because so many rentals are owned by small local landlords, listings show up in waves, so check often.
Demand builds through late winter and spring as students leaving the dorms lock down housing. The most walkable blocks around FHSU clear first, followed by the houses near downtown and Chestnut Street. Classes start in mid to late August, and the closer you get, the slimmer the walkable options become. Hays is small enough that even a place a few blocks out keeps you close.
If you arrive late or transfer mid-year, spring sublets and December openings from graduating students give you a fallback. Summer is quieter, which sometimes means more flexible move-in dates if you ask. Because local landlords list in waves, new openings can surface even close to the start of the term. Late searchers should widen the search a few blocks out from campus.
The blocks immediately around FHSU are the most walkable and the first to fill, a mix of older houses and small apartment buildings.
The social center of town, walkable and close to Frontier Park, with apartments above and around the storefronts.
More newer complexes and a bit more space, usually a short drive from campus and a touch higher for the upgrades.
Common questions from students searching for housing.
Rent in Hays runs well below big-city rates. A room in a shared house or apartment near campus typically lands around $350-$600/month per person, and even a one-bedroom often sits around $700/month. Budget another $40-$100/month for utilities, since older houses near campus can run up heating bills in a windy Kansas winter.