The cheapest options, by far, are the graduate student dorms just north of the Law School campus. A small, 142-square foot single in Child or Richards Hall rents for only $351 a month for the academic year. The most expensive suites, which have two rooms are only $563 dollars.

But graduate students, many of whom are married and have started families, find little allure in dorm life.

When Kenneth J. Halpern, a lawyer, decided to come to GSAS to complete his Ph.D., dorms were not an option.

"At my age, the thought of living in a dorm was not a thinkable thought," Halpern said.

Instead, he found an apartment near Davis Square in Somerville. Many other graduate students have found the renting scene tolerable close to Harvard.

Irving C. Johnson, a third-year graduate student who is studying social anthropology, moved from the graduate dorms to Somerville after one year.

"After one year in the dorms, you want to leave," Chan said. "The food is bad and there isn't any privacy." He moved to Somerville, and was lucky enough to find an apartment that he now shares with four friends.

But over the past few years, stories like Johnson's and Halpern's have become rare, as prices in the once-affordable Somerville have risen.