Hey Catherine! I'm currently a college student and want to explore the possibility of renting to college students in my college town as well. You're absolutely right with the high turnover, potential for damage, and general grossness. We're young adults away from home for the first time, and while some of us may have learned basic skills for living in a house by ourselves, unfortunately the majority of them have not. These are a couple things that I believe you should consider when renting out to college students, from the perspective of a college student.
Athletics: Temple is a Division 1 school, and as such I'd assume they do a fair amount of recruiting for their athletics program. Athletes for fall sports, at least at my college are required to be on campus before the start of our fall quarter to attend practices and such. Some of these athletics include track & field, football, and soccer. Since these athletes have to be in the area for a longer amount of time, you could consider targeting your rentals towards them, networking with coaches there to arrange housing or simply get your word out there.
Floor plan: If college kids are set on partying, they're gonna party. It doesn't really matter whether you're at a frat house or a college dorm room, people are gonna find a way to party if they want to. That being said, there's certainly ways you can mitigate the damage that results from partying. Less open floor plans with smaller common areas such as living rooms and dining rooms typically are not as efficient for hosting people, and should definitely be a factor in considering a property to purchase.
Potential to add another bedroom. As you mentioned in your post renting by the room is common in college towns. If you have the potential to convert an area of the house into a bedroom easily, you should definitely consider that. Assuming students are required to live on campus their first year in a dorm, having your own room to yourself is a massive upgrade, even if the bedroom is smaller. The general consensus among the people I've talked to here on campus is pretty much the same, they'd take a single room over a double room shared with someone any day, even if the room was double the size.
With all that being said, I believe the biggest factor that will make or break your rental is simply screening the tenants. Utilize extreme due diligence when screening prospective tenants, after all they are really the only difference between a party being thrown in your rental vs a party not being thrown in your rental. Hope I was able to provide some insight, and best of luck!
