UD has announced changes in the housing application process beginning in September.

Housing application changes

Students see value of on-campus housing in connecting with interests, resources

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3:55 p.m., May 28, 2015--More students than ever are seeing the value of on-campus housing – not just as first-year students, but as upper-division students, too. 

Research shows that during their sophomore year, students may experience a “sophomore slump,” which often leads to personal, academic and involvement drift.

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A second year living on campus is critical to help students more fully connect with their academic interests, and take advantage of major resources such as the Career Services Center, study abroad, undergraduate research, internships and more.

In order to manage the occupancy of University of Delaware housing so that all second-year students who wish to live on campus for 2016-17 have the greatest opportunity to do so, the housing application process for returning and upper-division students will change significantly beginning in September 2015.

“With the changes in occupancy demands, the patterns we’ve relied on for years have to evolve,” said Kathleen G. Kerr, executive director, Residence Life and Housing. “The studied, developmental benefits of a second year of living on campus are too significant to ignore. We are adjusting the room assignment process to increase priority for rising second-year students.”

The biggest procedural change is that the upper-division housing application process will be split into two separate processes: One process for first-year students who are applying for second-year housing (called Second-Year Housing Open Enrollment) and another process for students applying as rising third-and fourth-year students (called Upper-Division Open Enrollment). 

Applicants in the Upper-Division Open Enrollment process, although guaranteed housing if they meet posted application deadlines, will be entered into a lottery and selected students will participate in the initial room selection process in March. 

If they aren’t selected in the lottery, those rising third-and fourth-year students will be placed on a guaranteed waitlist. The timing of the Upper-Division Open Enrollment period was chosen to align more closely with the off-campus market and allow students and their families more time to explore their options.

“This will be a major shift in traditional practice. Applying for on-campus housing traditionally takes place after the start of the new calendar year and it has been a process that defaults priority in the selection of rooms to rising juniors and seniors,” said Kerr. “We know this will greatly affect our third- and fourth-year students, who have traditionally had almost exclusive access to upper-division housing.”

Upper-Division Open Enrollment

Students who are at least second-year students as of Sept. 1, 2015, must apply for upper-division housing by Sept. 30, 2015, to be guaranteed housing for the 2016-17 academic year.

September will be the only open enrollment period for upper-division students. Students may apply as an individual or may form a group of up to four students.

For students who have applied by Sept. 30, 2015, a lottery system will determine which students will be given the opportunity to select a room in March 2016. Similar to the past, these students will select rooms before students who will be applying for second-year housing. Students not selected in this lottery will be placed on the guaranteed wait list. Placement on the guaranteed wait list ensures students a space on campus for 2016-17, but will prevent them from selecting a room until after the second-year housing group has selected.

“Students will be informed in early October if they will select a room during the initial room selection period in March, or if they have been placed on the guaranteed wait list,” said Kerr. “Students on the guaranteed wait list will not be bound to the housing contract until April 1, 2016, providing time to weigh all options.” 

Second-Year Housing Open Enrollment

Students who are first-year students as of Sept. 1, 2015, will apply for housing during the Second-Year Housing Open Enrollment period, Feb. 1-29, 2016. 

Students who apply by Feb. 29, 2016, are guaranteed housing for 2016-17. Those students given a time slot to select a room in March will do so after the lottery winners from the Upper-Division Open Enrollment process.

These same students can improve their priority for selecting a room, compared to other students in their class, by applying during the Second-Year Housing Early Bird period in October.

More about returning student applications

Any returning student who misses their designated Open Enrollment period will be invited to apply for housing beginning March 1, 2016 to be placed on a wait list to be assigned a space if it becomes available.

 The $200 housing prepayment will be refundable for returning students who cancel their housing application before Nov. 1, 2015.

Complete information will be available on the Residence Life and Housing website

Questions can be directed to Residence Life and Housing at 302-831-4663 or reslife-housing@udel.edu.

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