I have rented to college students until recently. I agree with Walt and others about getting a time machine. We bought at a great time during the housing crash.
Our area has an extreme housing shortage right now, yet the local U keeps growing enrollment. At the same time we're getting spillover demand from Silicon Valley (20 min away) as people get priced out there *and* realize they can live near the beach and the redwoods for less.
But the factors making our property a good investment (timing, housing shortage, proximity to high-paying jobs) are not universal. YMMV so to speak. In fact, I would estimate that without these factors our property would have been a money loser once we account for expenses (something is always breaking) as compared to something totally passive like VTSAX.
I typically rented to grad students, preferring those in STEM fields. A bit more mature, and typically far too busy with school to spend a lot of time partying. There was frequent turnover, but typically those returning the following year would find new housemates. Again, it helps that there's a housing shortage in my city, super easy to fill vacancies, I wouldn't assume that this is normal in every college town. They didn't break stuff so much as failed to do any upkeep whatsoever, a lot more wear and tear than normal.
We've taken our rentals off the market. Housing shortage naturally led to increasing rents, and now it looks likely that the city will impose very strict rent and eviction controls. 'Cause, you know, if there's a shortage of rentals it makes complete sense to make it less desirable to be a landlord /sarcasm. So we've withdrawn our units until after the election, will reevaluate then.
In short, it can be very lucrative if you buy in the right market at the right time. But success isn't guaranteed and it's not something to go about lazily. Nor do I think it's something you just outsource to someone else, you have to do your own homework.