Louisville senior Emily Brewster had the option to move off campus a couple of years ago.

But Brewster, who is a Spirit Master and is involved with the Baptist Campus Ministry, chose to stay on campus.

“It’s so much easier to stay here,” she said.

Money was also a deciding factor, Brewster said.

Brewster has scholarships that cover housing, she said.

But some of her friends who live off campus are having trouble making rent, Brewster said.

“Paying $300 plus a month when you’re a student is a lot,” she said.

A total of 2,437 students renewed their housing for next year as of April 7.

That’s 98 more students than the 2,339 who renewed housing last year.

Economics Department Chair William Davis said he hasn’t seen any data proving the economic climate has caused a change in local rental prices.

But several campus apartment complexes in Bowling Green are lowering rent and offering promotional deals to attract students, said Tabitha Daniels, leasing professional for The Gables.

“The traffic lately has sort of slumped,” she said.

The Gables has had several students who had to get out of leases early because their parents lost jobs or the students couldn’t afford to pay rent anymore, Daniels said.

Those students have the option of finding people to sublease their rooms, she said.

Daniels said some students who couldn’t pay rent opted to go home, get a job and mail in their rent without actually living in their apartment.

The Gables lowered its monthly rent and the renewal rate for returning students, she said.

The rent for this fall for The Gables, which offers four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments, is $324 per person per month, according to the apartment complex’s Web site.

Daniels said The Gables also redecorated the model apartments to make them more attractive to potential residents.

Students often wait until the last minute to sign leases, said Teresa Tucker, leasing coordinator for Campus Pointe.

“It often depends on grades and whether or not they’re getting scholarships, and usually they’re just looking around,” she said.

Tucker said she’s noticed a decrease in interested students in the past few months.

But she’s not alone, she said.

“We’re down in our numbers, but so is everyone else,” Tucker said.

Campus Pointe has been doing heavy advertising and promotional deals to try to bring in more students, Tucker said.

Students who tour Campus Pointe are entered to win free rent for a year, she said.

The rent for Campus Pointe, which offers two-bedroom, two-bathroom and three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartments, starts at $239 per person per month, according to the apartment complex’s Web site.

Lydia Houghland, a sophomore from Santa Claus, Ind., lives at Campus Pointe. She said living off campus has helped her learn responsibility.

“It’s very hard to put in enough time at work to make rent and to put in enough time at school to make the grades,” she said.

But Houghland likes the freedom of having her own place, she said.

John Copeland, property manager for Chandler Property Management, said the company is trying to be flexible and work with its customers if they can’t make payments on time.

Chandler Property Management owns several different apartment complexes in Bowling Green, including Covington Oaks, according to its Web site.

But some apartment complexes aren’t feeling the negative effects of the recession.

Sherri Grissom, leasing coordinator for The Registry Apartments, said she hasn’t noticed much of a difference in student leases in the past year.

“We’re right at our numbers from last year,” she said.

The Registry has kept its rent the same, Grissom said.

The Registry offers two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments starting at $490 per person per month and four-bedroom, four-bathroom apartments starting at $395 per person per month.

Nell Tomlin, manager of the Fairways at Hartland, said the apartments and townhouses there don’t necessarily cater to students.

Less than 10 percent of the residents of the Fairways at Hartland are students, Tomlin said.

But the students who are there seem to be there to stay, she said.

“We haven’t lost a student yet due to the economy,” Tomlin said. “We’re not feeling it as much as some.”

However, some other members of the Fairways at Hartland community have lost their jobs, she said.

They’re still liable for their rent, she said.

The Fairways at Hartland has five different floor plans for one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and townhouses, from $530 to $1,205 per month, according to its Web site.