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Off-Campus Housing Near SHSU
$504/unit
Fees may applySam Houston Village II
$450+/unit
Fees may applyThe Armory | Student Housing
$875+/unit
Fees may applyWoodcreek Apartments
About Off-Campus Housing Near Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University drops about 21,900 Bearkats into Huntsville, a piney East Texas town about an hour north of Houston up I-45. You can't miss the local landmark: a 67-foot statue of Sam Houston nicknamed Big Sam looming over the freeway. Campus folds into a historic downtown built around a courthouse square lined with local shops. The Sam Houston Memorial Museum and the surrounding state forest land give you trails and green space without leaving town, and Huntsville State Park sits just south for lakes and hiking. Game days fill Bowers Stadium with orange, and the town stays small enough that most of student life happens within a short walk or drive.
Sam Houston State University Housing Requirements
Freshman Live-On Requirement
SHSU requires students entering within one year of finishing high school to live on campus their first year and buy a resident meal plan, usually fall and spring. Most freshmen at Sam Houston State spend that first year in the halls. The requirement shapes when students begin planning their move off campus.
Off-Campus Eligibility
Exemptions exist for students who live with a parent within commuting distance, are married, have dependents, are older than the typical first-year, or transfer in with enough credits. Most students move off campus as sophomores once that first year wraps. Huntsville's a small market, so the better student houses and by-the-bed complexes near campus get claimed early.
Lease Timing
The local rental process is standard Texas: a 12-month lease, an application fee, a credit or income check, and a guarantor if you're short on rental history. Watch for older houses where utilities run separate and summer cooling adds up, and confirm occupancy limits, since some single-family rentals cap how many unrelated tenants can share a place. Read the subletting clause before you sign.