Eligibility

Policy

Incoming first-year students at Columbia College (CC) or the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are required to live on campus and are guaranteed eight consecutive terms of housing, provided they meet the eligibility requirements. For purposes of determining years of guaranteed housing, a partial year of residence in housing is considered a full year.

Continued residence in Columbia Housing during the academic year requires registration as a full-time CC or SEAS degree candidate. Students are not registered for the minimum number of credits are not eligible for undergraduate housing. Their Occupancy Agreement will be terminated and they will be required to move out of the residence halls.

Students who fail to register for classes, are no longer eligible for undergraduate housing, and must make necessary arrangements to secure registration or be denied access to the residence halls and your room. Holds will remain in effect until the student's account is settled with Student Financial Services.

Please note that Columbia Housing does not house graduate students.

Loss of Guaranteed Housing

Students will lose guaranteed housing status for the following reasons:

• non full-time status
• voluntary withdrawal from school
• required withdrawal from school
• moving from Columbia Housing to off-campus housing or a non-Columbia-owned fraternity or sorority building
• disciplinary action
• unapproved study abroad
• failure to graduate on time (ninth-term seniors)
• failure to register for and participate in Room Selection
• failure to sign your Occupancy Agreement by the deadline
• failure to live in residence during first year of admittance and failure to register for Room Selection for sophomore year

Students who lose guaranteed housing, are not able to participate in Room Selection for the following year and are no longer guaranteed a room. However, they may still be eligible to live in the residence halls. Students may reapply for housing each year and will be placed on the Non-Guaranteed Waitlist. Waitlist applicants are assigned as rooms become available, either before or after the start of the term. Assignments for non-guaranteed students are processed after all guaranteed students have been assigned. Non-guaranteed students may seek off-campus housing through Columbia’s Off-Campus Housing Assistance (OCHA). For the best results, begin searching for housing well in advance of the start of the fall term.

Medical Leaves

A student in CC or SEAS who has been granted a medical leave of absence and has guaranteed housing when they leave will maintain guaranteed housing upon readmission. However, students on leave will not participate in Room Selection for the upcoming school year. Instead, upon readmission to their school, they must submit a new housing application by the deadline. They will be assigned a room before the start of the term. 

Part-Time Students

Housing in residence halls is only available to full-time undergraduate students in CC and SEAS. If students are not registered for the minimum number of credits, their Occupancy Agreement will be terminated and they will be required to move out of the residence halls.