I'm currently a student at UT. The cost difference between furnished and nonfurnished would allow you to buy your own furniture and have it all paid for within a few months' time.
Kenwood Gardens: Not a bad apartment compared to several around, but not the nicest either. It has a very "institutional" feel to it. At one point it was public housing and at peak capacity it was home to 5000 residents (I toured these apartments and they told me that). The one person I know who lived there moved after a year.
In general if you stay north and west of the UT main campus you'll be fine. Similarly if you stay west and south of the UT Health Science campus you'll be fine. Anything in any of the suburbs (Sylvania, Holland, Springfield, Maumee, Perrysburg, Oregon, etc) are great. Right downtown there are a couple of apartments that apparently are fairly nice. Also check out areas just north of the Ohio border in Bedford Twp. It's a nice area that is growing at a pretty good clip and is close to Flower, Toledo Hospital, and St. V's.
In Toledo there are several houses that are for rent. I've found that these houses typically rent for approximately the same price as two-bedroom apartments. You may want to check into that if you want more room. Buying a house is also a possibility for those staying here for a few years. You can easily find a 2 or 3 bedroom house in a nice Toledo neighborhood for $120,000. I almost bought a house when I moved here but decided I didn't want to shovel snow and mow the lawn.