# Studying in La Crosse: universities, housing and student life URL: https://edufabtech.com/blog/studying-in-la-crosse-universities-housing-student-life Section: Blog · Student Cities Published: 2026-10-24 Publisher: EduFabTech (https://edufabtech.com) > La Crosse packs two universities onto a shelf of land between the Mississippi and Grandad Bluff. Here is how students find rooms, furnish them cheaply, get around on the free U-Pass, and what it all costs — with every figure traced to its source. La Crosse occupies a narrow shelf of ground where the La Crosse and Black rivers empty into the Mississippi, pinned against the sandstone face of Grandad Bluff on one side and the river channel on the other. The Mississippi here is the border with Minnesota; the bluffs behind the city belong to the Driftless Area, the corner of the upper Midwest that the last glaciers missed. It is a compact city, and for students that geography matters in practical ways: the campuses are within walking or cycling distance of downtown, the river limits how far the city can sprawl, and the same bluffs that make the place beautiful also funnel winter wind down the valley. For a town of its size, La Crosse carries an unusual amount of higher education. Two degree-granting universities sit within about a mile of each other — the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and Viterbo University — alongside Western Technical College, whose students share some of the same services. That concentration shapes rents, bus routes and the second-hand market in ways worth understanding before you sign anything. This guide sticks to figures you can check. Where a number appears, the institution and the year appear with it, and each one links to the page it came from. Housing, fares and opening times change, so treat the dated figures as a starting point and confirm the current version on the same pages before you commit money. ![Side-by-side comparison of UW–La Crosse (public, 10,622 students, 20:1 ratio) and Viterbo University (private Catholic Franciscan, 1,746 students, 11:1 ratio), including their base on-campus room rates.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/10/studying-in-la-crosse-universities-housing-student-life-2.png) *Side-by-side comparison of UW–La Crosse (public, 10,622 students, 20:1 ratio) and Viterbo University (private Catholic Franciscan, 1,746 students, 11:1 ratio), including their base on-campus room rates. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## Two universities between the river and the bluffs The **University of Wisconsin–La Crosse** (UWL) is the larger of the two and the one most students mean when they say "the university." Its campus runs along State Street on the city's north side, near the La Crosse River marsh. According to the university's own 2025 Fact Sheet from Institutional Research, UWL enrolled 10,622 students in autumn 2025 — 9,675 undergraduates and 947 graduate students — with a student-to-faculty ratio of about 20:1. UWL is overwhelmingly a Wisconsin school: its Fast Facts page reports that 81% of students are state residents, with the rest drawn from other states and 29 countries in all, so the international cohort is small. The same fact sheet highlights the most popular undergraduate fields, among them Exercise and Sport Science, Psychology and Biology; at graduate level the health professions loom large, including Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and the Physician Assistant programme. If you are coming for the health and movement sciences, you are joining the part of UWL that is busiest. **Viterbo University** is the smaller, private neighbour, at 900 Viterbo Drive on the city's south side, closer to downtown. Its At a Glance page describes it as a Catholic, Franciscan institution and reports 1,746 students in autumn 2026 — 1,090 undergraduates and 656 graduate students — with an 11-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio and more than 40 undergraduate majors across five colleges and schools. Viterbo's identity leans toward nursing, education and the performing arts; its Fine Arts Center is a fixture of the La Crosse cultural calendar, not just a campus building. The scale is deliberately intimate, and a prospective student choosing between the two is really choosing between a mid-sized public university and a small faith-based one a short bus ride apart. ## Where first-years land, and where everyone else goes Most new students at both universities begin in the residence halls, and at UWL that is close to universal: the 2025 Fact Sheet records that 97% of first-year students lived on campus in autumn 2025. UWL's halls cluster on and just off State Street, which means your first year is spent inside a tight, walkable grid. After that, the pattern reverses: students spread into the surrounding neighbourhoods, especially the older housing stock north and east of UWL and the streets around Viterbo toward downtown, where large houses have long been carved into student flats. The on-campus figures are the cleanest housing numbers available, because the universities publish them directly. UWL's Residence Life rates page sets 2026–2027 room charges at $2,417.00 per semester ($4,834.00 for the year) for its cube- and wing-style halls such as Angell, Coate, Drake, Hutchison, Laux, Sanford, Wentz and White; $2,900.50 per semester ($5,801.00 per year) for suite-style Eagle Hall; and $3,693.50 per semester ($7,387.00 per year) for apartment-style Reuter Hall. The page states these rates were approved by the Board of Regents in June 2026. Viterbo publishes its own schedule. Its Cost and Eligibility page lists FY2025–2026 housing charges per semester ranging from $2,690 for a shared room in Marian Hall and $2,890 in Bonaventure Hall up to apartment-style options such as the La Verna two-bedroom units at $3,910 and single rooms in Clare Apartments at $4,110. The same page notes that all residential students are required to carry a meal plan, so the room figure is never the whole bill. Between the two universities, a double room in a traditional hall runs broadly $2,400–$2,900 per semester before food — a useful yardstick when you start comparing it against renting off campus. ![Bar chart comparing per-semester on-campus room rates across UWL's standard, suite and apartment-style halls versus Viterbo's Marian, Bonaventure and Clare Apartments options.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/10/studying-in-la-crosse-universities-housing-student-life-3.png) *Bar chart comparing per-semester on-campus room rates across UWL's standard, suite and apartment-style halls versus Viterbo's Marian, Bonaventure and Clare Apartments options. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## Renting off campus without losing a deposit Off-campus rooms in La Crosse are mostly in converted houses rather than purpose-built blocks, concentrated in the blocks around UWL and between Viterbo and downtown. That older stock is part of the appeal and part of the risk: a charming 1920s house can also mean single-pane windows and a heating bill you did not budget for, so ask to see a recent utility bill before you sign. Because so many leases turn over on the same academic cycle, the good rooms near UWL are spoken for early — students commonly start looking a semester or two ahead, and if you are arriving from abroad you will be doing this from a distance, which is exactly when caution matters most. Rental scams follow a predictable script in a university town like this one. A listing appears for a house near State Street or downtown at a price that undercuts everything around it; the "landlord" is conveniently out of town and asks you to secure it with a deposit before you can view it. Do not. Never send money by bank wire, gift card or cryptocurrency to hold a room — those payments are effectively irreversible, and no legitimate La Crosse landlord needs them to reserve a place. See the actual unit in person, or have someone you trust see it for you, before any money changes hands, and get the lease and the deposit terms in writing. If you cannot physically visit, both universities' housing or student-life offices can point you toward vetted listings; that is a safer starting point than a stranger's online ad. EduFabTech's own [rooms listings for La Crosse](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse/rooms) and the [listings near UW–La Crosse](https://edufabtech.com/near/university-of-wisconsin-la-crosse) are another place to begin before you deal with anyone directly. ## Furnishing a room cheaply Furnishing an empty room is where a tight budget is won or lost, and La Crosse has a genuinely useful anchor for it. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore at 3181 Berlin Drive sells new and gently used furniture, appliances, building supplies and home goods, and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the organisation says 100% of ReStore profits go to building and repairing homes in the Greater La Crosse Region, so the money stays local. For beds, desks and the odd bookshelf, it is often the single best stop. The city's open-air markets are more in flux. The downtown farmers' market long held in Cameron Park has been unsettled: as WIZM reported on 4 October 2026, the Sunday Market at Cameron Park, supervised in 2026 by Downtown Mainstreet Inc., ended its season early that day — moved up from the planned 25 October — with coordinator Kathleen Graham saying organisers were in talks with other groups about taking it over and hoped to finalise 2027 plans by January. If you arrive expecting a reliable weekly market, check its current status first rather than assuming last year's schedule holds. For furniture, kitchenware and the giveaway wave that follows every lease turnover, EduFabTech's local pages for [second-hand things](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse/second-hand), [second-hand furniture](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse/furniture) and [free items](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse/free-stuff) in La Crosse are worth watching, especially in late May and August. ## Working while you study Part-time work is common among La Crosse students, and the rules differ sharply depending on your status. For international students on an F-1 visa, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Study in the States guidance states that if you participate in on-campus employment, you may not work more than 20 hours per week when school is in session, and that you must talk to your Designated School Official (DSO) before taking such work. Off-campus work, and training such as Curricular Practical Training (CPT) or Optional Practical Training (OPT), carry their own conditions and authorisations. This is a summary, not legal advice: confirm your own situation with your university's international office and the official DHS and USCIS pages before you accept any job. Domestic students face no such federal cap, and the mix of two universities, a hospital sector and a downtown service economy means term-time jobs do exist — EduFabTech's [La Crosse jobs listings](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse/jobs) are one place to look. ## Libraries and places to study UWL's academic library is **Murphy Library**, on the State Street campus. Its hours page lists regular autumn opening as Monday to Thursday 7:30 a.m. to midnight, Friday to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to midnight — long enough to cover most of the day and a good chunk of the night during term. Those late weekday closings are the ones to remember when an assignment is due. Off campus, the La Crosse Public Library main branch at 800 Main Street, downtown, offers public computers, Wi-Fi and bookable rooms, which makes it a neutral, quiet alternative when the campus libraries are full during finals or when you want a desk closer to downtown. Between Murphy Library, Viterbo's own library and the public library, a student on either campus has more than one place to put their head down. For other desks and quiet corners around the city, see EduFabTech's [study spaces in La Crosse](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse/study-spaces). ## Getting around: the U-Pass and the city bus La Crosse is small enough to cross on foot or by bike, but the winters make the bus matter. City buses are run by the **La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility (MTU)**, and for students the key fact is that the ride is already paid for. UWL's U-Pass page states that the programme is included in student fees at no additional charge and gives students unlimited access to any MTU bus simply by showing their UWL student ID to the driver; it also runs a Safe Ride service between downtown and campus on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. The city's own MTU fares page confirms the arrangement, listing "UWL, Western, & Viterbo students: Free" alongside the standard adult cash fare of $1.50 and a $35.00 adult monthly pass. In other words, the single biggest transport cost for most students here is zero, provided you carry your student card. ## What it costs, and what it's like The honest picture is mixed, and worth weighing before you come. On cost, La Crosse is moderate by U.S. standards: the on-campus figures above are the firmest anchors — roughly $4,834 a year for a standard UWL hall room in 2026–2027 before food, per Residence Life — and UWL's in-state undergraduate tuition and fees were $10,193 for 2024–2025 against $19,639 out-of-state, according to its fact sheet. A reliable single municipal figure for private rents is harder to pin down from an authoritative source, so treat the dormitory rates as your most trustworthy baseline and verify any off-campus quote against what you can actually see. What is good about La Crosse is tangible: a walkable, bikeable scale; the river and the bluffs on your doorstep, with Grandad Bluff and the marsh trails genuinely usable rather than ornamental; a free bus; and two campuses small enough that staff tend to know students by name, particularly at Viterbo with its 11-to-1 ratio. What is hard is just as real. The city is remote — it is not a short hop to a major metropolis, and that isolation is felt most by students without a car. The older rental stock can be cold and expensive to heat through a Wisconsin winter. With 81% of UWL students coming from within Wisconsin by its own count, the international cohort is small, which can mean a smaller ready-made community for those arriving from abroad. And the concentration of students around a few blocks pushes the best rooms off the market early. None of these is a reason to stay away; all of them are reasons to plan. ## A checklist for your first weeks - **Lock down housing the right way.** If you are in a hall, confirm your contract and move-in date; if you are renting, never pay a deposit before seeing the unit, and never by wire, gift card or crypto. - **Get your student ID and activate the U-Pass.** It is your free MTU bus fare and, at UWL, your Safe Ride home on weekend evenings — carry it. - **Furnish from the ReStore and the giveaway season.** The Habitat ReStore on Berlin Drive and late-semester free listings will cover most of a room for a fraction of retail. - **Find your library rhythm early.** Note Murphy Library's late weekday hours and the downtown public library's bookable rooms before finals week arrives. - **If you are on a visa, see your international office first.** Confirm the on-campus 20-hour rule and any work authorisation with your DSO and the official DHS and USCIS pages before taking a job. - **Prepare for the winter and the distance.** Budget for heating in an older house and work out your transport before snow and short days set in. For everything student-specific in the city in one place — rooms, jobs, second-hand goods and events — EduFabTech's [La Crosse hub](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse) and the [listings near Viterbo University](https://edufabtech.com/near/viterbo-university) are a reasonable first stop, and the [local events page](https://edufabtech.com/in/united-states/la-crosse/events) is a quick way to find your footing once you arrive. ## Sources 1. University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning. (2025). 2025 Fact Sheet: UWL at a Glance (Fall 2025). University of Wisconsin–La Crosse https://www.uwlax.edu/globalassets/offices-services/institutional-research/ir-resources/fact-sheet-2025.pdf 2. University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, Residence Life. (2026). Rates & costs (2026–2027 residence hall rates). University of Wisconsin–La Crosse https://www.uwlax.edu/reslife/apply-for-housing/rates-and-costs/ 3. Viterbo University, Residence Life. (2026). Cost and Eligibility (FY2025–2026 housing charges). Viterbo University https://www.viterbo.edu/residence-life/cost-and-eligibility 4. City of La Crosse, Municipal Transit Utility. (2026). Fares. City of La Crosse https://www.cityoflacrosse.org/your-government/departments/municipal-transit-mtu/fares 5. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2026). Working in the United States (Study in the States). U.S. Department of Homeland Security https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/students/work/working-in-the-united-states --- Source page: https://edufabtech.com/blog/studying-in-la-crosse-universities-housing-student-life Quote with a link to the source page. © EduFabTech.