Loading listings
Washington, DC is the nation's capital and a genuine big city, and one of the densest student towns in the country, anchored by George Washington University, Georgetown University, and American University. Students don't cluster in one campus strip here; they spread across neighborhoods and let the Metro stitch everything together. Foggy Bottom wraps around GW near the monuments, Georgetown holds its historic streets and Potomac waterfront, and the leafy upper northwest around Tenleytown sits beside American. Beyond those anchors, students fill Columbia Heights, Petworth, Mount Vernon Triangle, NoMa, and Brookland. The National Mall, the free Smithsonian museums, and Rock Creek Park are part of daily life.
Right at GW and steps from the monuments, walkable and on the Metro, best if you want zero commute to that campus.
Lively, diverse, more space for your money, and well connected by Metro, popular with students wanting neighborhood life.
Quieter, greener, and next to American, good for an easy campus walk and Red Line access.
Here's what you need to know about getting around Washington.
Washington runs on the Metro, full stop. The rail system links every major campus and most student neighborhoods, so plenty of students live without a car and just tap in. Metrobus fills the gaps the trains miss, and the universities run their own shuttles connecting campus to the nearest Metro stations. For trips out of town, Union Station handles regional and intercity rail.
The city is genuinely walkable in its core neighborhoods, and Capital Bikeshare stations are everywhere for short hops. Students can cover daily errands on foot or by bike in most central districts. The dense, connected neighborhoods make walking and cycling easy everyday options. Combined with the Metro, two wheels and walking handle most short trips.
A car is more hassle than help in most of the city, since parking is tight and traffic is rough; many students skip it entirely. Where you live shapes your commute most, so think about which line serves your campus before you sign. Students who keep a car should expect parking to be a recurring challenge. For most of DC, transit and walking beat driving.
Common questions from students searching for housing.
DC is a big-city market, so it runs high. A room in a shared apartment or group house often falls somewhere around $1,100-$1,800 per person each month depending on the neighborhood, and prime areas like Foggy Bottom and Georgetown sit at the top of that. Sharing a larger place farther from the core is the usual way to bring the per-person number down.
Washington is home to 3 universities, each with its own student housing market.
American University sits on a green hilltop in northwest Washington, DC, home to about 14,001 students who call themselves Eagles. The campus rests where Spring Valley meets Cathedral Heights, along the embassy-lined stretch of Massachusetts Avenue, less than a 15-minute walk from Rock Creek Park, one of the largest…
View housing near American UniversityThe George Washington University drops about 27,017 students into the middle of Washington, DC, with its main campus in Foggy Bottom just blocks from the White House and the National Mall. There's no traditional quad here: the campus is the city, so your walk to class passes monuments, federal buildings, and the…
View housing near GWGeorgetown University perches about 19,371 Hoyas on a bluff above the Potomac River in Washington, DC, with Healy Hall's 200-foot spire as its postcard. The surrounding Georgetown neighborhood is all cobblestone, Federal rowhouses, and the historic C&O Canal running parallel to the commercial strip. Students drift down…
View housing near GeorgetownBrowse student housing near each Washington-area university.