Fannie Mae vs Freddie Mac student housing loans, side by side

Both agencies lend on student housing, and they draw the lines in different places. Fannie Mae sets a hard campus-size floor and bans food service. Freddie Mac has no stated enrollment floor but publishes its LTV and DSCR grid and a pre-leasing reserve.

Rule	Fannie Mae	Freddie Mac
What counts as student housing	“Dedicated” if 80% or more of units are leased to students; 40% to under 80% is a “Student Housing Property”	Purpose-built for students, or a conventional property with more than 50% student tenants
Campus size	At least 10,000 students, the majority full-time	No stated floor; its summary says most of its student business is at schools with 15,000+
Distance	Within 2 miles of the campus boundary, or near a college-sponsored transit line	Under 2 miles, or on a public transportation route
Operating history	At least 1 full school year	Primarily stabilized properties; no stated minimum history
Food service	Not allowed in Dedicated Student Housing	Residence-hall buildings with meal plans or shared baths are ineligible
Leases	At least 80% of units on 12-month leases	12-month leases required, with an exception after two leasing cycles at the required DSCR
Parental guarantees	Expected: a parental guarantee or documented tenant means to pay	Required unless the risk is mitigated another way
By-the-bed income	Allowed with 2 years of operating statements kept by the bed	Not addressed in the summary
Max LTV / min DSCR	Not stated in the current Guide sections	75% / 1.30x (5-7 years), 80% / 1.30x (over 7 years), lower for full-term interest only
Replacement reserves	Not stated in the sections cited	At least $300 a unit or $150 a bed

Sources: Fannie Mae Multifamily Selling and Servicing Guide, Part III, Chapter 1, sections 101-104, effective September 28, 2026. Freddie Mac Multifamily “Student Housing” product summary, data as of December 31, 2025.

Campus size: Fannie’s hard floor

Fannie Mae’s 10,000-student floor is a bright line, and “majority full-time” matters as much as the headcount. A commuter campus with 14,000 students, most of them part-time, fails it. You can check both numbers on any campus page, which shows fall 2024 total and full-time enrollment from IPEDS.

Freddie Mac’s summary is softer on paper. It says it focuses on schools with rising enrollment and on sponsors with a student housing track record, and that it weighs new supply and distance to campus. With no stated floor, a 9,000-student campus isn’t ruled out at Freddie on size alone.

LTV and DSCR

Freddie Mac publishes the grid; Fannie Mae’s Guide sections on student housing don’t. Freddie’s student loans carry an extra 0.05x of DSCR compared with its conventional multifamily loans, which is why its grid starts at 1.30x. Whether that DSCR floor or the LTV sets the loan depends on the property’s cap rate and your rate. Run your property through the loan sizer with the rate you’ve been quoted and you’ll see which test binds.

What neither agency wants

Dorm-style buildings with meal plans and shared bathrooms sit outside both programs. So do properties far from campus without transit. Properties on college-owned land can work with Fannie Mae, but the key principal needs at least five years of Dedicated Student Housing experience and must already run another property on college land.

If a deal misses the agency box, banks, life companies and debt funds are the next calls. The Janover Capital desk can tell you which ones are lending near a given campus.