Skip to main content
iStock photo of student working at desk

Enrollment Requirements and Eligibility for Graduate Housing

Stanford R&DE Student Housing offers housing to undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled in a degree program (matriculated students) and students who are enrolled at Stanford but are not pursuing degrees (non-matriculated students). Students must be considered enrolled by the Office of the Registrar to be eligible for housing.

If not enrolled full time, undergraduate students must have an approved 13th Quarter petition or a Permit to Attend for Services Only. Graduate students must be enrolled for at least eight units or have terminal graduate registration (TGR, TMR). Honors co-op students are generally not eligible for graduate housing as they do not typically enroll in eight or more units. If you are an honors co-op student who will maintain at least eight units for each quarter during the academic year, contact Housing Assignments for help submitting an application.

Priority is given first to students who are matriculated in at least eight units and then matriculated students enrolled in fewer than eight units. Non-matriculated students are assigned after matriculated students. Graduate students who are approved to enroll in a graduation quarter through the Office of the Registrar are eligible for housing.

Students auditing classes or enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts part-time graduate program are not eligible for housing. If your status changes to non-matriculated after you are assigned to university housing, you must notify Housing Assignments immediately.

Enrollment Requirements

Except during summer quarter, you must be enrolled during the time you live in university housing. You do not need to be enrolled in courses when you apply, but you must be eligible to enroll and must not have any enrollment or housing holds in order to start your contract. International students with an administrative hold from the Bechtel International Center will still be permitted to check in.

In situations where both spouses/partners are Stanford students, only one student must be enrolled to maintain eligibility for housing. However, in the one-bedroom plus den apartments, both students must be enrolled for the contract period or be approved to be in housing while on leave.

Students can gain approval from Housing Assignments to stay in housing while not enrolled for the following exceptions by logging onto the Housing and Dining section in Axess to file the appropriate petition under the Forms and Petitions tab.

Exceptions

Summer Quarter

You may live in housing without enrolling for summer quarter if you enrolled the previous spring quarter or you are a graduate student who has been assigned for autumn quarter. You do not need to file a petition.

Vacation Quarter

Graduate students who successfully petition may live in housing without enrolling for one vacation quarter during autumn, winter or spring. However, the graduate student:

  • Must be on official one-term leave from the university
  • Must have been enrolled during the previous three consecutive quarters (including summer)
  • Must enroll for the quarter following the leave

Undergraduate students are not eligible for vacation quarters.

Pregnancy, Childbirth and Non-birth Parent Leave

Students need to file a petition in Axess to request to remain in housing during pregnancy, childbirth, and non-birth parent leaves.

Any pregnant graduate student is eligible to retain access to Stanford housing for up to two consecutive academic quarters while on childbirth accommodation and/or pregnancy leave around the time of the birth.  These quarters count against a student's priority years in housing.

Non-birth parent leave can be approved for up to one quarter and this must be the quarter in which the child is born or adopted unless a different length is approved by the student's department.  This quarter counts against a student's priority years in housing.  Non-birth parents include spouses/ partners of individuals anticipating or recently experiencing the birth of a child, parents who adopt a child, and parents by means of surrogacy. 

Post-Graduation Quarter

Students who successfully petition may be permitted to live in housing for one quarter without enrolling after they receive their degree. Post-graduation quarter requests are only approved after all other students are accommodated. It is possible that you may be approved to stay in university housing, but asked to relocate to a different type of apartment. Please note: Undergraduate students who apply for a Registrar’s graduation quarter are not eligible to continue to live in university housing. Graduate students who are enrolled in a graduation quarter through the Registrar's office are eligible for university housing. See the Registrar's web page for special graduate and undergraduate enrollment statuses for more details. 

Holds and Loss of Eligibility

If you have active enrollment or housing holds or you are not eligible to enroll by the date your assignment begins, you will be unable to move into your residence. If you cease to be enrolled while in residence, you must file a termination form on Axess and move out of university housing. Select the Terminate Occupancy option in the Housing and Dining section of Axess.  International students with an administrative hold from the Bechtel International Center will be permitted to check in.

Eligibility for Graduate Housing

Stanford Graduate Housing provides three different types of housing:

Single Graduate Housing

Graduate students attending Stanford without a spouse, partner or children are eligible for Single Graduate Housing. Undergraduate students 25 years of age or older attending Stanford without a spouse, partner or children are also eligible for Single Graduate Housing. Single students are assigned to a variety of single-occupancy studio apartments and shared apartments with two, three or four bedrooms.

Couples without Children Housing

Graduate and undergraduate students who are married or in a domestic partnership who will co-occupy an apartment with them at least 50% of each week are eligible to live in Couples without Children housing. At Stanford, a domestic partnership is defined as two adults who have chosen to share one another’s lives in an intimate and committed relationship. Couples housing is not intended for friend pairs, siblings, parents, or members of a student’s extended family. Couples without children are eligible for studios, one-, or two-bedroom units.

Students with Children Housing

Graduate or undergraduate students who have legally-dependent children living with them at least 50 percent of each week are eligible to live in Student with Children Housing. Students with children may or may not be married or in a domestic partnership. Students with shared custody of their children qualify for this type of housing if the children physically occupy the apartment at least 50% of each week. If you are expecting a child, you may apply for Student with Children Housing for the quarter that corresponds to the second trimester of pregnancy. This type of housing is not available for parents, siblings, other extended family or child-care providers. Students with children are eligible for studios, one-, two-, three-, or four-bedroom units depending on the number of occupancy-eligible members of the family (student, child(ren) and spouse or domestic partner). For students with children, Stanford uses an occupancy limit of two persons per studio, and two persons per bedroom + one for larger units. For example, depending on availability, 1) a family comprised of a student-parent and child is eligible to live in a studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom; 2) a family comprised of a couple and one child is eligible to live in a one-bedroom or two-bedroom; 3) a family comprised of a couple and three children is eligible to live in a two-bedroom, three-bedroom or four-bedroom.