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Housing Guarantee and Eligibility for Undergraduate Housing

Eligibility for Undergraduate Housing

Stanford Student Housing offers undergraduate housing to undergraduate students who are enrolled in a degree program (matriculated students). Students must be considered enrolled by the Registrar's Office to be eligible for housing. Students with housing assignments who determine that they will not be enrolled or will not be eligible for housing must file a housing termination and move out of university housing. 

Guaranteed Housing Plan for Undergraduate Students

How many academic quarters of housing am I guaranteed?

Stanford students who matriculate as frosh are guaranteed twelve complete or partial quarters of academic year housing, including their freshman year. The twelve complete or partial quarters are commonly referred to as “guarantee quarters.” Transfer students receive nine guarantee quarters (nine complete or partial quarters of academic year housing).

Students use a guarantee quarter when living in housing for an entire academic quarter (autumn, winter, or spring quarters) or if they live in housing for any part of an academic quarter. This means that a student who lives in housing for only part of an (autumn, winter or spring) quarter has used one guarantee quarter.

Guarantee quarters are used when living in any on campus undergraduate residence, graduate residence, or off-campus subsidized residence. This includes Greek houses, even when living as a boarder. The following students use guarantee quarters in the same fashion as all other students: residence staff, house officers, students with disabilities/medical accommodations, “pulled in" roommates of staff or students with medical assignments, and pre-assigned students.

If I have a guarantee quarter remaining, am I guaranteed housing for any quarter I choose?

Even though a student has one or more guarantee quarters remaining, that student is not necessarily guaranteed housing for any particular quarter unless the student does the following:

  • Has at least one guarantee quarter remaining.
  • Applies for housing by the first application deadline for the quarter for which they are applying.
  • If not assigned in the first round of assignments, participates in all subsequent assignment rounds by the specified deadlines.

Students who meet the above conditions are always housed by the end of the first week of the quarter in which they have applied for housing. If there is not enough space in undergraduate residences to accommodate all guaranteed students, some undergraduate students may be assigned temporarily to guest rooms or to vacancies in graduate residences.

I am a co-term student. Am I guaranteed housing if I still have guarantee quarters remaining?

Co-term students who have not conferred their undergraduate degrees and have guarantee quarters remaining are guaranteed undergraduate housing if they apply by the first application deadline.

Co-term students who are currently seniors or senior+ students also have the option of applying for graduate housing for 2023-24. In making the decision as to which category of housing to pursue, students should review the prices and if on financial aid, make sure they understand which residences would be covered by financial aid. All undergraduate residences except Mirrielees require a meal plan.