Oxford, Ohio

School: Miami University
Students: 17,395
Median home value: $148,800

The Daily Beast/Newsweek ranked Miami University, with its Georgian Revival-style architecture, on its list of most beautiful schools. Freshmen and sophomores must live on campus, which lessens the rental pool. Enrollment numbers show a 9.2 percent rise since the 2007-2008 year. (To find enrollment numbers on the Internet, search "common dataset" and a college's name.) The breakeven horizon: two years and three months. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage would mean a monthly $668 payment; Zillow does not have an median rent figure for Oxford.