CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Operating activities:
Net income	$ 10,960	$ 8,530
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	19,224	17,528
Impairment of damaged assets	3,312	0
Amortization of deferred financing costs	1,089	2,341
Gain on purchase of previously unconsolidated entities	0	(6,554)
Loss on disposal of assets	0	149
Provision for bad debts	1,835	1,345
Equity in (earnings) loss of unconsolidated entities	(3,608)	135
Distributions of earnings from unconsolidated entities	305	237
Share-based compensation expense	2,352	762
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Restricted cash	(723)	(1,876)
Student receivables	(3,270)	(1,966)
Construction billings	(7,922)	(6,429)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses and other liabilities	19,528	5,293
Other	(10,698)	3,447
Net cash provided by operating activities	32,384	22,942
Investing activities:
Investments in development in process	(102,928)	(84,174)
Investments in student housing properties	(7,835)	(6,074)
Insurance proceeds received for damaged assets	1,000	0
Acquisitions of previously unconsolidated entities, net of cash acquired	0	(15,877)
Acquisitions of student housing properties, net of cash acquired	(13,801)	0
Investments in unconsolidated entities	(300,889)	(3,072)
Capital distributions from unconsolidated entities	4,098	2,994
Issuance of notes receivable	(31,700)	0
Other capital expenditures	(12,122)	(980)
Change in restricted cash	(3,544)	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(467,721)	(107,183)
Financing activities:
Proceeds from mortgage and construction loans	35,730	79,121
Repayments of mortgage and construction loans	(13,496)	(76,722)
Proceeds from line of credit and other debt	189,376	43,900
Repayments of line of credit and other debt	(18,182)	(66,078)
Debt issuance costs	(863)	(1,028)
Dividends paid to common stockholders	(36,399)	(14,858)
Dividends paid to preferred stockholders	(3,450)	(2,006)
Dividends to noncontrolling interests	(215)	(211)
Proceeds from sale of preferred stock	0	57,500
Proceeds from sale of common stock	312,736	75,573
Payment of offering costs	(13,035)	(5,701)
Net cash provided by financing activities	452,202	89,490
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	16,865	5,249
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	5,970	10,735
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	22,835	15,984
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid for interest, net of amounts capitalized	8,398	7,820
Cash paid for income taxes	145	571
Non-cash investing and financing activity:
Common and preferred stock dividends declared but not paid	11,687	6,002
Assumption of mortgage debt related to purchase of previously unconsolidated entities	0	27,299
Change in payables related to dividends to common and preferred stockholders and noncontrolling interest	4,477	2,206
Change in payables related to capital expenditures	1,194	1,781
Change in payables related to investment in unconsolidated entities	$ 6,588	$ 2,893