After Greg's response its safe to assume that this property would not be beneficial for your partner and you.

The IRS has given a safe harbor of such in Rev proc 2008-16 of 2 years but that is not meant to define the correct holding period just a set of circumstances that they would "guarantee". 

Your best bet in getting your money back is to talk with the highest possible manager in a thoughtful way with documented dates, emails, and phone call records.

From my research it looks like flips are a good bet for this area.

Might be able to expense under the safe harbor for small taxpayers. 

Let's say that they can price at 25% off safely so that would be $345k.

You can safely assume a minimum of 3%, but they honestly can’t (or won’t) tell you.  

A 3% increase is a nuisance increase in this economy, I'd bet you're under renting at that pace. 

If you're not expecting this to appreciate (like if that university is decreasing in size or stagnant in its growth) I think this could still be a good deal, I would be willing to bet that you may be able to find something with for a lower ask that may need some love to get it back in shape.

I would bet your getting adequate marketing.