<p>12 month leases are the norm. Yes it can be a pain for students that don’t want to be in town during the summer, but it’s a pain for the landlord to rent the place out for just 2 months so they make it the tenant’s problem and not their own problem. </p>
<p>That said, in most college towns it’s generally not too difficult to sublet out an apartment for the summer. I would note though that quite often the tenant won’t be able to get full rent for the sublet deal (especially if they really want to get the place subleased) and will still end up paying some of the rent.</p>