Where students live
Three roads carry the student market. Broomfield Road, running along the south edge of campus, holds Tallgrass and Yorkshire Commons and is walkable in five to ten minutes. Collegiate Way and Sterling Way, just beyond, hold the two big purpose-built communities — The Reserve and University Meadows — which is where the remarkably low per-bed prices are. Deerfield Road and Mission Street, further out, mix student townhouses with ordinary Mount Pleasant apartments.
The headline here is simply how cheap it is. The Reserve advertises three-bedroom units at $359 a person and University Meadows at $369 — roughly half what an equivalent bed costs in most of the college towns on this site, and less per month than a CMU hall once the mandatory meal plan is counted. Two properties, Tallgrass and The Heights, publish figures without saying whether they are per bed or per apartment, so check those before comparing.
Apartments & rentals students actually use
| Community | Distance | Units & rates | Furnished? | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Reserve at Mt Pleasant 4205 Collegiate Way | Short ride | 3BR/3BA $359, 3BR XL $479, 2BR/2BA $549 per person | Furnished | reserve-mtpleasant.com |
| University Meadows 4310 Sterling Way | Close to campus | 3BR $369, 2BR/2BA $520-$550 per bed | Furnished, upgrade optional | univmeadows.com |
| Copper Beech Mount Pleasant | Short ride | 4BR $429-$469, 3BR $429-$569, 2BR $599 per person; 1BR $849; furnishing +$15/mo | Optional add-on | copperbeech-mtpleasant.com |
| Tallgrass Apartments 1240 E Broomfield St | 5-10 min walk | 2BR and 4BR; 4BR/2.5BA from $350 — ask which basis; 1,550 sq ft | Not confirmed | tallgrassapts.com |
| Park Place Apartments 1401 E Bellows St | Minutes away | 1BR from $600, 2BR $675-$785 per unit, utilities included; 553-837 sq ft | Not stated | centralmichiganapartments.com |
| Yorkshire Commons 1251 E Broomfield St | ~0.5 mi from downtown | 2BR/2BA $725-$960, 3BR/1BA $960-$980 per unit; 910-1,200 sq ft | Not stated | livewithunited.com |
| Westpoint Village 2222 S Crawford Rd | Short ride | 2BR/2BA ~1,000 sq ft; rates by enquiry | Not stated | livewithunited.com |
| The Heights of Mt Pleasant 3516 E Deerfield Rd | 2.7 mi / ~5 min | 2BR and 4BR flats, 5BR townhomes, from $1,140 — ask which basis; 1,536-1,560 sq ft | Furnished | Aggregator listings only |
Compiled from property sites and public listings, August 2026. Rates move every lease season and several properties here publish nothing at all — verify with the property before you sign.
Getting to campus without a car
The I-Ride campus shuttle runs weekdays 7am to 7pm from late August to early May, roughly every thirty minutes, and will flex up to a quarter mile off its route to pick you up. Be careful with the wider system, though: general ICTC public transit is not free — it is $2 a ride for ages 18 to 59. Third-party sources describe some CMU-funded commuter routes as fare-free, but no first-party CMU page confirms free travel with a student ID, so do not budget on it. ICTC is on 989-772-9441.
How it compares to a dorm
What you’ll need
Most rentals here come furnished — use the checklist’s furnished filter and focus on bedding, kitchen and bath.
Apartment checklist Apartment shop