Son rented a 1 bedroom outside of Nashville over the summer (in Antioch) for $650/mo. This is probably too far for commuting to Vanderbilt. He’s back in a Vandy apartment suite for the school year.
(And I have to add, I had a studio for $280/mo in Allston close to BU back in 1983. I wonder what it costs now…)
D3’s rent for her own bedroom in a 4 bedroom/3 bath townhouse (7 year old structure) in Indianapolis was $275 (2 years ago-and because she shared a bath she had a parking spot in the garage). Meanwhile her sister at IU in Bloomington, about 50 miles away, was paying $550 for her own room in a 2 bedroom/ 1 bath tiny house owned by the universiy that was a dump. Both great rates compared to some of the rents posted in this thread!
Not looking forward to my kid moving to NYC for grad school.
megpmom, my daughter is in NYC for grad school. She’s paying $800/month – less than many of the rents listed here for places I thought would be cheaper. If you look hard and long enough, are willing to live outside the hip places, share with other people, live without a doorman and without an elevator, in an older unrenovated building, it is possible to find lodging in NYC that is not outrageously expensive.
BunsenBurner, both my kids inherited my aversion to spending big bucks on housing. 
S1 found his current place through a listserve at work. I can only pray S2 will move out of here at some point and be self-supporting.
UCLA. Four guys in a two bedroom. $700 each plus utilities. 20 minute walk from campus.
SDSU: 4 guys in a 2 bedroom: $800 each not including utilities and parking. Utilities are around $40 each and parking $70 each. 5 minute walk to campus.
UC Davis: 2 bedroom $1390 not including utilities. 10 minute bike ride from campus
UC Davis, dd shares large townhouse in master with bath $375 including utilities in South Davis. Seven girls in 4 bedrooms 2 ½ baths. Takes free bus to campus, lives across the street from Safeway, 2 minutes.
OP, decades ago, the ex and I moved to Ann Arbor from Arizona for his PhD. We were appalled at the price of housing! After consideration, we broke our lease after a week and moved to Madison for the lower rents and a similar program for him.
Now some of the housing around UW Madison has gone terribly upmarket in recent years. But D, in grad school has found one of the grand old houses that is now in sad repair, containing a studio for $575 per month. The plaster work is a nightmare, but the echos of style in the windows and wood floors give it a certain charm.
S in San Diego, still in his grad school apt in a desirable area pays somewhere around $700 per month, though the GF has replaced the roommate.
D pays about $900 for a furnished, newer 1 BR apartment with W/D in the unit, within walking distance of University of Alabama campus. Rent includes cable, internet, all other utilities, and there are amenities like pool, exercise room, clubhouse, etc. (none of which she uses). She could have found cheaper housing if she went further from campus, shared a larger apartment or went with an older building.
It definitely takes some time and effort, but cheaper alternatives usually can be found, even in NYC or SV. My kid did not have the luxury to apartment-hunt in 'More because she was stationed abroad and came home a week before classes began. 
With the 12 hr time difference, sketchy Internet connection etc. her opportunities for apartment hunting from another continent were quite limited. Additionally, she needed a short 9-month lease because her school requires an internship outside the US in the second year, so that limited her options, too. The graduate housing was a godsend in this situation!
@abasket I’m surprised your friends son paid so much in oxford ohio. There are many affordable options. My child graduated from there in may and lived in a huge efficiency, located 3blocks from campus. It really was as a large as a one bedroom. We only paid 445/mo which included heat. Your friends son was probably uptown on High street because Oxford is very reasonable.