This is not correct. In the absence of a specific provision addressing the issue, which is extremely rare in residential leases, every tenant who signs a lease is jointly and severally responsible for the payment of the entire rent due. If nobody pays, the landlord can sue all of them, one of them or any combination of them for the entire amount.
A lot of college area apartments have switched over to sort of a private dorm system. You will have a 4 bed 4 bath apartment with a shared living room and kitchen. Each tenant has a separate lease with the landlord and the tenants have no control over who leases a room in their apartment.