Private nonprofit · Washington, DC
The Catholic University of America
4,012 full-time students in fall 2024 and college-controlled housing for 1,976: about 49.3 beds for every 100 full-time students. The other 2,036 live somewhere the college doesn't control. That is the outer edge of the private market, before you take out commuters and students living with family.
Enrollment
Of 5,243 students enrolled in fall 2024, 3,177 were undergraduates and 2,066 graduate students. 9% studied exclusively online, students who don't need a bed near campus. Headcount rose by 72 from fall 2023 (+1.4%).
Housing the college controls
IPEDS counts 1,976 beds of institutionally controlled housing for 2024-25. That figure is the school's own capacity, on or off campus, so it includes halls the college leases or manages but not private buildings that simply market to students. Capacity shrank by 12 beds from the year before (1,988 in 2023-24).
What students pay
The typical 2024-25 housing charge for a student sharing a room was $10,120 for the academic year, roughly $1,124 a month spread over nine months. Food added $8,080. For aid purposes the school budgets $18,200 for food and housing on campus and $18,200 for a student living off campus away from family, the same amount.
Those are the college's own figures. Private by-the-bed rents near campus can sit well above or below them, so check current asking rents before you underwrite a project.
How lenders read a campus like this
At 5,243 students the campus is below the 10,000-student minimum in Fannie Mae's Multifamily Guide for Dedicated Student Housing (Part III, Chapter 1, section 103.01). Freddie Mac has no stated enrollment floor, but its own product summary says most of its student housing loans are at schools with 15,000 or more students. Banks, debt funds and conventional multifamily programs are the likelier lenders here.
To size a specific property, use the student housing loan sizer. It works by the bed and shows which constraint sets the loan.
Among the 5 District of Columbia campuses on this site, The Catholic University of America ranks number 5 by full-time students beyond college housing. See the District of Columbia table.
Other campuses in Washington
- American University: 10,136 full-time, 4,249 beds
- George Washington University: 18,694 full-time, 7,363 beds
- Georgetown University: 15,905 full-time, 5,347 beds
- Howard University: 12,712 full-time, 6,397 beds
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Total enrollment, fall 2024 | 5,243 |
| Total enrollment, fall 2023 | 5,171 |
| Full-time students | 4,012 |
| Undergraduates (full-time) | 3,177 (2,972) |
| Graduate students | 2,066 |
| Exclusively online | 9% |
| College-controlled housing capacity, 2024-25 | 1,976 |
| Capacity, 2023-24 | 1,988 |
| Beds per 100 full-time students | 49.3 |
| Typical housing charge, academic year | $10,120 |
| Typical food charge, academic year | $8,080 |
| Aid budget, food and housing on campus | $18,200 |
| Aid budget, food and housing off campus | $18,200 |
| All first-time, full-time students required to live in college housing | No |
| Combined food and housing charge (if not split) | not reported |
IPEDS unit ID 131283. District of Columbia. School website. Figures are as the institution reported them to the National Center for Education Statistics. The live-on question asks whether every first-time, full-time student must live in college housing; a school with exemptions or a later-year requirement can answer no. How this data is built.