Before he enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, design major Joel Weber took one look at the rising cost of living for a struggling college student and knew dorm life wasn't for him.

A room in one of the school's residence halls costs roughly $1,135 per month. Living off campus is no less forgiving. The median rent for a one-bedroom in a nearby downtown district jumps to $1,913, according to real-estate site Zumper.

So Weber tried down-sizing. He constructed a 145-square-foot tiny house in a friend's backyard. It cost less than $15,000 to build, thanks to generous donations and a bit of resourcefulness. Now the 25-year-old — who earned his associate degree and traveled before enrolling at UT-Austin as a sophomore — pays nothing in rent and plans to graduate debt-free.

Take a peek inside his unconventional "student housing":