New Mexico State University will become the first university to offer affordable campus housing for student veteran families, according to NMSU.

"It'll allow the student veterans to thrive," the vice president of NMSU Student Veterans Association, Andrea Sandoval, said.

Sandoval is a student veteran herself and served in Iraq. She's one of around 1,700 veterans that attend NMSU.

Sandoval said her organization wanted to offer affordable housing for veterans where they can live just a few minutes away from the classrooms while enjoying the company of others who understand their experiences in the military.

"They'll have that community," Sandoval said. "They'll have that atmosphere where it's like, 'Hey. That's one of me.' Families could come in. They have a yard. They have a safe neighborhood."

The going rate for the homes is around $600 a month including utilities.

There are eight houses so far, but Sandoval said they're hoping to make the entire surrounding community specifically for student veterans down the line.

Sandoval said she's hoping to see other schools follow in NMSU's footsteps and said she's proud to be at the forefront of it all.

"NMSU is a good university, but it's not necessarily known to be cutting-edge, and for us to be on the leading spot, that's what we want," Sandoval said.

Student veterans start to move in Feb 1.