March is buzzing with the hustle and bustle of basketball among the college community across the country. It is a befitting month for J Turner Research to announce the top 10 student housing managers for 2025 based on their Online Reputation Assessment (ORA) scores. Now in its eighth year, the ranking celebrates leaders in student housing that are going above and beyond to enthrall students with their exceptional resident experience and sharp operational focus.
Top 10 Student Housing Managers for 2025
The top student housing management companies’ ranking is based on Student Housing Business’ list of the Top 25 Managers of Student Housing published in its November/December 2025 issue. We ranked the top managers based on their ORA scores as of December.
For the eighth consecutive year, the No. 1 student housing manager is The Dinerstein Cos. Dinerstein scored a companywide ORA of 77.75. Core Spaces ranked second with a 74.68 ORA, and Cardinal Group took the third sport with a 70.83 ORA. For a complete ranking of the top 25, visit our website.
“Despite student housing review commentary shifting more negative for the sixth year in a row, J Turner is honored to be able to recognize the companies bucking that trend and rising to the top of their field,” notes vice president Turner Batdorf. “At J Turner Research, we noticed a massive shift in student feedback in 2025, where they spent much less time talking about amenities and much more about customer service. While sense of community is always incredibly important among students, companies need to shift in how they cultivate that feeling from the physical spaces to the relationship between staff and renter. While student housing has lagged behind conventional in this regard (likely a result of the psychological effects of COVID), the new generation of student renters are not going to be wowed by flash. The companies listed at the top of this ranking are positioning themselves the best to meet this new demand.”
Noteworthy Statistics
- Nine student companies had the same ORA rank in 2025 and 2024, including the top three (Dinerstein, Core Spaces, and Cardinal Group);
- While seven companies gained a rank, eight companies dropped in rankings;
- HH Redstone is a new entrant in the Student Housing Business Ranking;
- Granite Student Living moved up five spots in the 2025 ORA Power Ranking (from No. 23 in 2024 to No. 18 last year). Greystar Student Housing moved up four spots (from No. 8 in 2024 to No. 4 in 2025); and
- The national average ORA in December was 63.42; the average score of the top 10 student housing managers for 2025 is 64.
Einstein Best of Awards for 2025
In addition to ranking the Top 25 Student Housing Managers based on their ORA scores, we recognize these managers in the five areas of on-site operations most valued by residents—Customer Service, Communication, Cleanliness, Maintenance, and Security. Powered by J Turner Research’s text categorization tool, Einstein, and proprietary artificial intelligence, Thought Analysis, the Einstein Best of Awards go beyond star ratings to recognize companies that set the gold standard for operational excellence in student housing. Having analyzed over 12 million reviews, Einstein provides unparalleled access into the quality of student managers’ operations, focused on five key aspects.
About the ORA Power Rankings
Developed by J Turner Research, the ORA Power Rankings are a monthly, independent ranking of apartment properties and management companies based on their Online Reputation Assessment (ORA) scores. A property or management company is not required to be a J Turner Research client to qualify for this ranking, which is published by J Turner’s media partner Multifamily Executive. These rankings highlight multifamily companies and properties that consistently deliver strong resident experience and operational performance. To learn more or to request your ORA score, visit www.jturnerresearch.com/about/what-is-ora-score.
About the ORA Score
Pioneered by J Turner Research, the ORA score is the multifamily industry’s standardized metric for measuring online reputation and resident experience. Calculated on a scale of 0–100 and updated monthly, the ORA score evaluates apartment communities by statistically aggregating ratings from major review sites and internet listing services. J Turner Research monitors the online ratings and reviews of more than 150,000 properties nationwide.
The ORA algorithm goes beyond simple rating averages by imitating how renters and AI are researching apartment communities. The model analyzes multiple factors—including review volume, lifetime star ratings, review content, rating consistency, recency of reviews, and the credibility of each review platform—to produce a balanced and unbiased reputation score. The model also considers sentiment across key operational areas commonly discussed in resident feedback, helping contextualize how operational performance influences reputation outcomes. The ORA score provides a trusted, third-party benchmark for comparing properties, portfolios, and markets nationwide.