The hunt for the off campus house or apartment in State College is on.

Just two-and-a-half months into school, students are already fully emerged into all-out race for the best spots to live downtown. Some are renewing their current addresses; others have already secured a place, and others are still frantically searching. No matter what situation you are in, living in State College won’t be cheap.

Over 40,000 students are thrust into this small town, and most want to live off campus. This puts all of the power into the hands of various realty companies who operate in State College. Every year, prices to live in small apartments with a handful of friends continue to rise at an alarming rate. They know they can charge exorbitant prices for subpar apartments, because students are in dire need of places to live. They have a stranglehold on the wallets of the students (and their parents).

The entire process is pretty outrageous. First of all, the fact that I need to already worry about acquiring a place I won’t set foot in for 10 months is ridiculous, but that is beside the point. As a junior, my friends and I just want to live at a great place downtown for our senior year. The places we have looked at have prices that average over $600 per month, per person. This is a huge increase from the $450 per month that we pay currently living pretty far down West College Avenue. It seems that the closer your desired apartment or house is to downtown, the higher the rent will be. Regardless of location, however, prices are increasing.

I am not the only one who has noticed an increase in cost to rent an apartment going into next year. We asked our readers to tweet us how much their rent is going up next year. Here are some of the results:

There are definitely more students out there who are being subjected to an increase in rent prices. If you are experiencing a similar situation, tell us about it in the comment section below.