My personal recommendation is to avoid going east of Vine street, even though that's the cheapest area near school. It's cheap for a reason, it's like the epicenter of crime for Urbana, especially at Florida/Philo. The officer who came out for my car told me that anything from Vine to Philo is considered the 'bad' neighborhood of Urbana. I didn't realize it prior to renting here because it definitely doesn't
look like a bad neighborhood other than being a bit old. I'm from the Detroit area, so it hasn't really phased me and I would stay if my sheltered roommates didn't go into full panic mode over my car being broken into
There are definitely a lot of vet students out this way who haven't had issues, but I want you to be aware that there is an increased risk out this way. The city of Urbana has an up to date crime map if you want to see more. Landlords definitely know this isn't the best area, but they won't tell you that obviously. It's not like you have a risk of being shot while walking your dog, but cars and homes definitely get broken into regularly.
Coming from experience, it is incredibly difficult to find a landlord here that is okay with more than two pets. I'm currently sneaking a third cat and a turtle, but do so at your own risk. I'm currently renting with Joel Ward homes, and I wouldn't recommend them only because his son seems to manage the students and he is clueless. However, I'm in a 3 bed 3 bath condo that's renting at $1326 a month total, so if anyone is interested in it, let me know.
I'm looking at one bedrooms now and I haven't seen anything below $600ish which sucks
As far as housing goes, there really isn't an excellent option for people with several pets who want to be within 10 minutes of the school. CCR realty doesn't enforce pet limits and they have a decent selection of places. Having looked for days though, there are few affordable options with more than one bathroom or that aren't just too small for that many cats.