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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                  CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER

          PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-14(a)/15D-14(a), AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002



I, Paul O. Bower, Chief Executive Officer of Education Realty Trust, Inc.
(the "registrant"), certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of the registrant;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

     (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
          disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
          supervision to ensure that material information relating to the
          registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
          known to us by others within those entities, particularly during
          the period in which this report is being prepared;

     (b)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
          and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
          end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
          and

     (c)  Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting that occurred during the
          registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
          fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
          affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
          registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant'sother certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

     (a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
          or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
          reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
          record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

     (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
          employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting.

     Dated this 31st day of March, 2005.


                                        /s/ Paul O. Bower
                                        ---------------------------------------
                                        Paul O. Bower, Chief Executive Officer