Moving to Manhattan

If you're moving to Manhattan from another city, state, or country, finding housing and getting settled in a new community can be one of the most stressful parts of preparing for your graduate career. We hope the resources below will help you explore housing options and and get acquainted with the Little Apple.

Finding a home

Graduate School Housing Guide

This guide was created from housing reviews and experiences shared by current K-State graduate students. If you're not sure where to begin your search for housing, this guide is a good place to start because it shows you where other graduate students are living.

The guide features a variety of properties in Manhattan, but does not include all housing options. You also might want to explore the additional resources below.

Additional housing resources

Other guides to find housing and roommates

Join the “Housing" group in the Graduate Student Networking and Information Hub based in Canvas to connect with other graduate students to find roommates and support each other's housing needs. You will need to enroll in the “course” by clicking the “+Join this Course" button. You may be prompted to login to Canvas with your K-State eID and password. Then you will be able to access the Housing group by going to "People" and then to "Groups."
K-State housing - K-State offers residence halls and apartment housing (Jardine). The Jardine apartments are popular choice for graduate students who want to be within walking distance of campus.
Rent College Pads - specific for college housing in the Manhattan area and includes a feature for finding roommates in the K-State student community. You can even filter your search to master's and doctoral students.
The Mercury - view housing listings in Manhattan's newspaper
The Collegian - view housing listings in K-State's newspaper
Off-Campus Housing Support - As a K-State student, you have access to the free services provided by the office of Off-Campus Housing Support. Off-Campus Housing Support provides information about the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords. The Off-Campus Housing Support website also includes guides on where to find housing.

Guidance from current students

In addition to reading reviewes in the Graduate School Housing Guide, you might find it helpful to connect directly with current students to learn about their housing experiences.

Connect with student in your program. Ask your graduate program director if they can connect you with current graduate students in your program to learn where they live and hear about their housing experiences.
Ask an ambassador. Several current graduate students from across campus serve as ambassadors to the Graduate School. They answer questions about graduate student life from prospective and incoming graduate students and are a great resource to learn about housing options in Manhattan.

Ask an ambassador about their housing experiences

Tenant Resources

Student Legal Services offers a Tenants Handbook of Rights and Responsibilities, along with other important information.

Life in the Little Apple

Nicknamed "The Little Apple," Manhattan, KS is located in the picturesque Flint Hills, very near the geographic center of the United States. Below, you will find more information about the area, services and resources, and other information to help you make Manhattan your new home.

Transportation

Travel to Manhattan

We recommend that you make air travel arrangements with the Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) as your final destination. The MHK airport is approximately 7.5 miles/12 km from the K-State campus. The closest national and international airports are located in Wichita and Kansas City, both of which are approximately 130 miles/210 km from Manhattan. Scheduled daily flights are available to and from Dallas and Chicago.

The next nearest major airports are the  Kansas City International Airport (MCI) and  Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.

Ground transportation options from Kansas City to Manhattan:

5 Guys Transportation is a shuttle van that will pick you up from MCI at any time. Simply make your reservation before arriving at MCI, and the shuttle will pick you up when your flight arrives.

Execu Car town car service will pick you up at MCI and take you to your destination in Manhattan according on your reservation.

SuperShuttle Express is a shared shuttle van service that will take you to any area in Manhattan. Make your bookings online before arriving at MCI.

Arrival Shuttle connects Kansas City International Airport to Manhattan.

Greyhound bus service stops at the parking garage on the K-State Manhattan campus. You may plan a Greyhound Bus travel from Kansas City and other places in the United States.

Transportation around Manhattan

Riley County offers ATA bus service, which services the Manhattan and K-State areas. Local taxi service and shared ride services with Lyft and Uber also are available.

Shopping

Shopping in Manhattan is excellent. The Manhattan Town Center is an enclosed regional mall in the heart of downtown Manhattan. Other major shopping areas include Aggieville, which is just south east of the KSU campus; Manhattan Mainstreet down town; the Westloop and Village Plaza centers on Manhattan's west side; and the Towne East and WalMart centers on the east side of town.

Books and supplies can be purchased at local book stores in Manhattan.

Schools

Unified School District #383 serves the Manhattan area. The district operates eight elementary schools in Manhattan and one in the nearby city of Ogden. Two middle schools, one high school, and one technical college, all located in Manhattan, serve the entire district. A measure of the quality of the school system is the fact that 70 percent of its high school graduates go on to college.

The school district offers special education programs in the following areas: educable mentally handicapped, severely handicapped, trainable mentally handicapped, emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, hearing impaired, gifted, physically handicapped, and visually impaired.

Climate

Be prepared for both hot and cold weather. In the summer the average daytime temperature ranges from 85°F to 95°F. Winter temperatures usually stay below freezing. Snow and ice is expected from November through March.

Kansas has a typical continental climate with rather large changes in temperature between winter (January) and summer (July) and between daytime and nighttime. There are four distinct seasons of approximately equal length. Weather in the spring and fall is moderate and comfortable. In winter typical daily temperatures range from -15 C (4 F) to 11 C (51 F). Typical summer temperatures range from 16 C (61 F) to 37 C (99 F).

April through September is the period of greatest rainfall. Seventy-five percent of the annual precipitation occurs during that period. During the rest of the year precipitation is light and is frequently in the form of snow from December to March. The snow cover seldom lasts more than a few days. Mean annual precipitation in Manhattan is 835 mm (33 inches).

Students dress casually for classes. Bring clothing appropriate for the seasons.

Money and banking

Health services and insurance

A student health fee is included in every on-campus student's tuition charge. This provides basic health care at Lafene Health Center.

Please note that your student health fee does NOT cover the cost of surgery or hospitalization. It is therefore strongly recommended that you make arrangements to cover such emergencies should they occur for you and your family.

All Kansas State University students may elect to have access to health care at Lafene Health Center provided for their non-student spouse. Non-student spouses are eligible for care at Lafene to include available services, with exception of University Counseling Services, simply by paying the Spouse Health Fee each semester. Lafene Health Center provides services only to students and their fee-paid spouse; children cannot be seen in this facility. Contact Lafene Health Center at (785-532-7759) for more information.