Public · Pensacola, FL

University of West Florida

7,564 full-time students in fall 2024 and college-controlled housing for 1,585: about 21 beds for every 100 full-time students. The other 5,979 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.

1,585 college-controlled beds (21 per 100 full-time) 5,979 full-time students beyond them
14,822total students, fall 2024
7,564full-time
$6,368typical housing charge, 2024-25 academic year
$14,082aid office off-campus food and housing budget

Enrollment

Of 14,822 students enrolled in fall 2024, 9,970 were undergraduates and 4,852 graduate students. 49% studied exclusively online, students who don't need a bed near campus. Headcount rose by 451 from fall 2023 (+3.1%).

Housing the college controls

IPEDS counts 1,585 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 grew by 51 beds from the year before (1,534 in 2023-24).

What students pay

The typical 2024-25 housing charge for a student sharing a room was $6,368 for the academic year, roughly $708 a month spread over nine months. Food added $5,612. For aid purposes the school budgets $12,432 for food and housing on campus and $14,082 for a student living off campus away from family, $1,650 more.

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

With 14,822 students, most of them full-time, the campus clears the 10,000-student minimum in Fannie Mae's Multifamily Guide for Dedicated Student Housing (Part III, Chapter 1, section 103.01, effective September 28, 2026). Under sections 103.01 and 103.03 a property still has to sit within 2 miles of the campus boundary or near a college-run transit line, have operated a full school year, and lease at least 80% of units for 12 months.

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 42 Florida campuses on this site, University of West Florida ranks number 21 by full-time students beyond college housing. See the Florida table.

Other campuses in Pensacola

Source: Fall 2024 enrollment, IPEDS DRVEF2024 (provisional release, December 2025); 2024-25 housing capacity and charges, IPEDS COST1_2024 (December 2025); IPEDS HD2025 directory (July 2026). Beds per 100 and the gap are arithmetic on those figures.
MeasureValue
Total enrollment, fall 202414,822
Total enrollment, fall 202314,371
Full-time students7,564
Undergraduates (full-time)9,970 (6,885)
Graduate students4,852
Exclusively online49%
College-controlled housing capacity, 2024-251,585
Capacity, 2023-241,534
Beds per 100 full-time students21
Typical housing charge, academic year$6,368
Typical food charge, academic year$5,612
Aid budget, food and housing on campus$12,432
Aid budget, food and housing off campus$14,082
All first-time, full-time students required to live in college housingNo
Combined food and housing charge (if not split)not reported

IPEDS unit ID 138354. Escambia County. 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.