College Town Rental Investing - During COVID?

[Daniel T Stockman]

First-time investor here... 

My wife and I are looking at investment properties in a couple of college towns, in Texas.  This will be our first investment property and we believe we have found a couple of homes/townhomes that have good returns and potential. The houses currently have tenants through this summer, and they are actively being worked to be renewed.

The question we have is more around the rentability in college towns leading into the next school year (Fall 2021/Spring 2022). Does anyone have any insights into how renters are engaging with rental properties in college towns? Also, what advice would you provide to someone heading down this path?

We are a bit concerned that there may be fewer renters than normal, due to COVID, and we cannot decide if we should just invest the money into the stock market instead of into a rental townhome or two. 

Thank you for your advice and guidance here.  It's greatly appreciated.