David Rivera-Kohr, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, rents a two-bedroom apartment in the city for roughly $1,200 per month. When his current lease ends, Rivera-Kohr said his rent is set to increase to around $1,500, plus utilities.
“Even at my current rent, I’m essentially breaking even every month,” he said. “I haven’t really been able to save money on a grad student income for quite a while.”