Phoenix is the hottest major city in the United States, and it is not close. Summer temperatures reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and the asphalt radiates heat well past sunset. In June 2024, Phoenix hit 113 degrees on 14 separate days. This is the city where Arizona State University, one of the largest universities in the country with over 70,000 enrolled students, asks tens of thousands of students to figure out what to do with their belongings every May.

ASU's main campus in Tempe is the epicenter of student life, packed with residence halls, off-campus apartments along Apache Boulevard and Mill Avenue, and a student population larger than the populations of most Arizona towns. Grand Canyon University sits 20 miles northwest in west Phoenix, with its own rapidly growing student body and a campus that has expanded aggressively over the past decade.

Storage Scholars provides climate-controlled storage that is built for this environment. We pick up your belongings from your dorm room or apartment, store everything in a facility where the temperature never approaches the 140-plus degrees inside a standard Phoenix storage container, and deliver it back when you return for fall. No loading a truck in 110-degree heat. No discovering that your laptop battery swelled and your vinyl collection melted into a single disc. No heatstroke risk on move-out day.

Phoenix summer storage is not a convenience. It is a necessity driven by extreme conditions that exist nowhere else in major college markets. From May through October, daytime highs routinely exceed 100 degrees. Standard non-climate-controlled storage units, the metal boxes that line industrial parks along the I-10 and I-17 corridors, reach internal temperatures above 150 degrees. At those temperatures, lithium batteries swell and become fire hazards, adhesives on furniture delaminate, plastics warp, and anything with a screen can suffer permanent pixel damage.

The average self-storage unit in Phoenix costs about $131 per month. A basic non-climate-controlled 5x10 runs approximately $63 per month. A climate-controlled 5x10 costs about $72 per month. But that climate-controlled price only covers the unit itself. You still need to rent a truck, drive to the facility, load in the heat, and repeat the whole process in August.

Storage Scholars eliminates the DIY component entirely. We pick up from your room, store in our climate-controlled facility, and deliver back to your door. You never set foot in a parking lot baking at 115 degrees.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a major hub, and thousands of students fly in from out of state every August. But arriving at Sky Harbor with checked bags and trying to get a full dorm setup to ASU's Tempe campus or GCU's west Phoenix location is a logistical headache, especially when the walk from the terminal to the rideshare pickup area feels like crossing a desert, because it literally is one.

Storage Scholars' ship-to-school service lets you mail boxes ahead of your arrival. We receive, inventory, and securely store your shipments, then deliver everything to your dorm room on move-in day. You step off the plane, grab a Lyft to campus, and walk into a room that is already set up.

Tempe's student housing market extends well beyond campus. Apache Boulevard, Mill Avenue, Rural Road, and the neighborhoods south of ASU are dense with apartment complexes catering to students. Moving between an off-campus apartment and a dorm, or between two apartments at lease turnover, means dealing with Arizona's heat-advisory days when the National Weather Service warns against prolonged outdoor activity. Our moving team handles the loading and transport so you are not carrying a futon down exterior stairs in direct sunlight at 2 PM in May.