[Providence-based] Investment Instruments Corporation (IIC), the only company devoted to increasing transparency in the real estate rental market, today released monthly rental rates for apartments near the nation's top universities to help students (and their parents) factor in the cost of housing into the already expensive college experience.

Using the Rentometer, Investment Instruments found NYU more expensive than UC Berkeley and the January-March the cheapest times to rent.

The Rentometer is IIC's flagship tool for tenants and owners. The free site analyzes local rents, tenants' rent rates and owners' proposed rent rates with actual local market rates.