We didn’t. Our S was desperate to get off campus so he would have a place for his rock band to rehearse. Seemed like an “optional” reason to us, so we told him he would have to pay for it. He did, but just barely. Learned a lot about budgeting (especially for utilities) and managing bills, about how tough it is to live on a minimum wage job, and also about how “you get what you pay for” in terms of neighborhoods and housing quality. (We did pay for his renter’s insurance, only because we paid for a couple thousand dollars worth of guitars and didn’t want them stolen.) These are great life lessons that they do not teach in college. We did co-sign the lease but with a few exceptions he has paid all of his bills himself. And he never really got the rock band going. We just talked to him last night, and he is looking for a new place now since his lease is up in May (he will graduate in August but will stay where he is to look for employment, and has decent prospects). He now knows what he can afford for rent, that an apartment which includes utilities and no lawn maintenance is better than another house, and has a good idea of possible locations. He would never know any of this stuff if we had just paid for everything.
One of his classmates had his parents pay big bucks for him to rent a fancy new townhouse near campus. He’s a musician (both are music majors) and I wonder how he is going to manage for himself after he graduates.