Western Illinois University

Enrollment

Of 6,332 students enrolled in fall 2024, 4,525 were undergraduates and 1,807 graduate students. 25% studied exclusively online, students who don't need a bed near campus. Headcount fell by 741 from fall 2023 (−10.5%).

Housing the college controls

IPEDS counts 3,083 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 was the same in 2023-24.

What students pay

The typical 2024-25 housing charge for a student sharing a room was $6,870 for the academic year, roughly $763 a month spread over nine months. Food added $4,450. For aid purposes the school budgets $11,320 for food and housing on campus and $11,320 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 6,332 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 21 Illinois campuses on this site, Western Illinois University ranks number 20 by full-time students beyond college housing. See the Illinois table.