First-Year Students
You are required to live in University housing for your first two years of enrollment. You will be assigned to live in one of the residence halls on Main Campus. If your immediate family resides in the Syracuse area, you may commute. Please make note of this on the housing application.
Transfer Students
You are welcome to apply to reside in University housing unless you have a family (spouse/children) or plan to commute from the permanent home of your immediate family (parents/guardians). Housing for transfer students is located within South Campus apartments or Skyhalls on a space-available basis.
Accessing Your Housing Application
- Accept your offer of admission by submitting the Admission Acceptance Form and your advance tuition payment and advance housing payment (if you plan to apply for University housing) by the date specified in your letter of admission.
- Access your official Syracuse University email account.
- Complete your housing application once you have received an email from the Housing Office confirming your MySlice Student Services access to the housing application.
Residential Facilities
All residence halls are coeducational (coed) and include several floor plan configurations (coed by wing, by floor or by alternating rooms). All residence halls have either single-gender shared bathrooms or individual private floor bathrooms.
Residence hall rooms vary in size and living style, facilities and room types:
- Open-double: A room shared with one roommate.
- Split-double: A room divided by a wall that is shared with one roommate.
- Four-person suite: Two open double rooms with a common room designed for four students.
- Single: A room in which you have no roommate. Single rooms are available on a limited basis if available and have a higher room rate.
The majority of first-year students will live in open- or split-double rooms. A limited number of students may be placed in suites or singles.
All residence halls are:
- Conveniently located near dining centers
- Ready for direct connection to the campus computer network
- Wired for cable TV (all rooms)
- Served by AirOrangeX, the University’s wireless network
Each residence hall uses an I.D. card swipe access system and is always locked. Only resident students and guests are allowed to enter the residence halls. Other safety features include residential community security officers at each main entrance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and audible alarms at secondary exits that are locked at all times. Every residence hall is equipped with fire suppression sprinkler systems and smoke detectors in each student room and in all other areas of the facility.
Commuters and Transfer Students Who Do Not Plan To Live in University Housing
- If your immediate family resides in the Syracuse area and you plan to commute from home, please check the appropriate box on the online Housing and Meal Plan Application.
- If you are not obligated to the University’s two-year, on-campus living requirement (new transfer students) and you plan to live off campus, please check the appropriate box on the online Housing and Meal Plan Application. You will receive an email to your Syracuse University account from the Housing, Meal Plan, and I.D. Card Service Center in August informing you when you will be able to access your self-service page, which is where you can purchase a meal plan, as well as Dining Dollars and ‘CUSE Cash.
- The Apartment and Off-Campus Student Living team will provide you with support, information and resource referrals throughout your off-campus housing experience.
South Campus Living
This area includes three residence halls (Skyhalls), as well as furnished apartments and townhouses. Transfer students live in the Skyhalls or apartments with other transfers or returning upper-class students.
South Campus is located a mile from Main Campus. A shuttle bus runs to and from Main Campus and throughout South Campus approximately every 15 minutes.
- The apartments have full kitchens. Students need to supply their own cooking utensils and microwave ovens.
- The housing fee includes utilities, and all South Campus apartments remain open during semester break.
- The Goldstein Food Hall on South Campus accepts Dining Dollars and meal plan swipes. Residents can also use their meal plans at the Inn Complete on South Campus or at Main Campus dining halls.
- South Campus residents enjoy many facilities: tennis courts, playing fields, the Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion and the Goldstein Student Center, which has a dining facility, computer stations, a laundry room, a fitness center, the South Campus Housing and Residence Life Office and a Public Safety Office.
Living Learning Communities
Living learning communities allow you to live and take classes with a group of students who share a common academic major or interest. Participation can help you develop skills and attitudes that support academic achievement; improve the quality of your thinking and communication skills; foster a better understanding of yourself and others; and balance your academic and social life.
Not sure which living learning community is for you? Explore your options or talk to a peer mentor about their living learning community experience.
Roommates
- The Housing Office utilizes a roommate compatibility feature within your Housing Self-Service to assist first-year students in their search for a compatible roommate.
- Within your Housing portal, you will be able to complete a questionnaire that provides you with an opportunity to connect with fellow first-year students and to identify a roommate before arriving on campus. On this tab in the Housing portal, incoming students will be able to answer questions about their habits and hobbies and select attributes to discover what they have in common with other new Syracuse students.
- Please review the provided guide on how to find & match with roommates within the housing application on the Housing Portal.
- Students admitted for fall will have until June 1 to make a roommate selection. Keep in mind that as the spring goes on and more students commit to Syracuse, your pool of possible connections and roommates will grow.
- If you opt not to select your roommate, a roommate will be assigned to you by the Housing Office.
- You and your resident advisor will participate in setting floor standards. You and your roommate(s) will complete living agreements that help create a mutual understanding in sharing the same space.
Housing Policies and Procedures
By completing the online Housing and Meal Plan Application, you are expected to comply with the rules listed in the University’s Housing Agreement. The agreement is for the full academic year, although the room charge is paid by the semester. You are expected to live in the room from the end of August until the middle of May, except for during the academic recess between semesters. New students who are not required to live in housing may cancel housing arrangements until Jan. 1 (spring applicants) or June 1 (fall applicants). After that date, your housing commitment is financially binding.
- Students who apply for on-campus housing by June 1 will receive their on-campus housing assignment and roommate information and roommate assignment in mid-July. Students who apply after June 1 risk a delay in notification of up to two weeks after initial assignments are sent.
- If you wish to select a learning community or interest housing option, make your request on the online Housing and Meal Plan Application. If you are not interested in a learning community, you will be assigned through the random housing assignment procedure.
- Accommodations will be reviewed by the Housing Office as they relate to health, religious or cultural traditions. Please note this information where requested on the online application.
- Disability accommodations can be made to meet the needs of students who have disabilities. Please contact the Center for Disability Resources by May 1 to discuss your needs.
- If you are a non-traditional or older student, you may prefer apartment living on South Campus. Please note this information where requested on the online application (special needs).
- The Housing Office confirms receipt of your information upon your completion of the online Housing and Meal Plan Application.
- Smoking is prohibited in all University housing facilities. Additionally, to help ensure a healthy, productive and respectful environment, Syracuse University is pleased to provide a smoke- and tobacco-free campus.
Housing Rates
It is recommended that you use the cost of a split double room when budgeting for University housing. Contracts are for the academic year, consisting of fall and spring semesters.
You will receive a statement of housing and meal plan charges from the bursar’s office. The first housing charge that you receive may be an estimate of housing costs. That cost may be adjusted if necessary.