My office is at 40th St. and Broadway, right near where your daughter will be working and it is a pretty nice area actually. University Dr between I-10 and the 143 used to be pretty seedy with the usual airport bars and strip clubs but it has cleaned up a bunch in the last several years, I think there are only a couple of strip clubs left up there now.
With the new college semester starting she may find it more difficult to locate a cheaper apartment of decent quality in the area, but there are a bunch of different complexes within 15 minutes. The key is to find a place willing to sign an 8 month lease. The nearby apartments in Tempe would be a good place to start looking, they are in a decent area as far as crime/safety goes and she can probably find something at a decent price as long as she is willing to take what she can get with regards to size/layout/etc.
I live in the South Mountain police precinct and can say that the area is blotchy when it comes to crime and the less desirable areas. I would recommend using the Phoenix police crime maps and reports to check out any of the areas first. When I say it is blotchy I mean you have some very nice, low crime neighborhoods (like mine), and then some higher crime areas close by. The map basically looks like a checkerboard. My community, and the one next to us, are HOA and have very few problems. We have homes with nice yards, kids playing in the street before sundown, yard sales, the whole Norman Rockwell deal. Nearby (1/2 mile away) there are run down apartments, section 8 housing, gang areas, you name it, but there really isn't any spill over from any one area to the next.
ChuckS is right, if you or she can get a hold of Debbie I am sure she would be able to point you in the right direction. Debbie is very involved in the different woman's shooting groups in the valley and I've had the pleasure of shooting with them several times now. They are genuinely good people who I know would be happy to help if they can.