Apply for Housing

We are committed to making the residence halls a welcoming place where each person has a rightful place within our community. We support the academic and social success of all our residents.

Our staff works closely with students who bring different identities to their residence hall experience on housing assignments. Please contact Michelle McCubbin directly at (301) 314-9555 or via email at mmccubbi@umd.edu to understand the options available to you and to explore different housing options. 

Campus Housing Options

Students can choose among three gender options for their residence hall housing assignment:

• Single Gender: Rooms, floors, wings, semi-suites, suites, and apartments that are assigned by sex. Students residing in these assignments share a bedroom and bathroom with students of the same sex or gender.
• Mixed Gender: Students live in a room with a student of the same sex or gender, but the room may be next to a room that is occupied by students of different sex or gender. On traditional hall floors, community bathrooms are designated as male or female.  Suite and apartment bathroom designations are determined by residents. 
• Gender Inclusive: A housing option where students, regardless of sex, gender, or gender identity, share the same bedroom. Gender-inclusive traditional hall rooms and semi-suites have a private bathroom. Suite and apartment bathroom designations are determined by residents.

We also offer the following housing types across campus:

• Traditional Hall Rooms with Community Bathrooms: traditional residence halls have single, double, triple and quad rooms that are shared with other residents. Residents share one large community bathroom with several toilet stalls, shower stalls, and sinks.  Most first year students live in traditional halls.
• Suites and Apartments: suites and apartments have several bedrooms (single, double, and a small number of triple rooms) in an individual unit, with a common room shared by all residents. Most bathrooms in suites and apartments are single use bathrooms that are shared among all the residents in that unit. Apartments have a kitchen in addition to the common room. Most suites and apartments are occupied by second, third, and fourth year students.
• Semi-Suites: semi-suites have two adjoining double rooms and a shared bathroom. Residents have access to a semi-private bathroom shared by no more than four students. Most semi-suites are occupied for second and third year students.
• Mixed-Gender Apartment Living in Campus Affiliated Apartment Communities: eligible students (typically third and fourth year students) can select mixed gender apartments at South Campus Commons and The Courtyards.

Our community provides a strong support system to help you settle into campus life and your new home away from home. Most first-year students live in residence halls in doubles, triples or quad rooms, shared with one or more roommates. Returning students typically live in single rooms, apartments or suites.

Over Thanksgiving, Winter Break and Spring Break, international students can request to stay in the residence halls. We have many halls that remain open for the break periods. If your hall is closed during breaks, you will be temporarily reassigned to a floor lounge in another residence hall.

We work closely with the International Student & Scholars Services (ISSS) office to organize an orientation that covers housing options for all incoming international students. Please visit the ISSS website for additional resources.

We recommend that international students purchase a dining plan and explore the wide variety of delicious and healthy food in the dining halls, cafés, convenience shops, concession stands, and food courts on campus.

Check out our YouTube videos about what it’s like to live on campus and to find more information on moving in, roommate relationships, and more.

Discovery House
Opening in August 2026, Discovery House is a community designed for the graduate student experience at the University of Maryland!  Fully furnished, all-inclusive apartments and collaborative spaces support your focus and connection. 

Graduate Gardens and Graduate Hills are two graduate student apartment communities located at the University and managed by Southern Management Corporation.

Many apartment complexes and homes near campus rent bedrooms to University of Maryland students. Visit the Off-Campus Housing Services office website for resources, information, and online tools to search for housing in the greater College Park area. Additionally, the UMD Graduate Student Life office also offers a wide range of resources for graduate students.

Visit the Grad School website for additional information about housing options in the Greater College Park area.

Most veterans at Maryland live in their homes or in housing they find in our local area. Veterans who need to locate housing in the College Park vicinity are encouraged to visit the Off-Campus Housing Service website for resources. Veterans who will enroll as full-time undergraduate students at the University of Maryland, College Park campus may apply to live in the on-campus residence halls upon their admission or readmission.

We guarantee residence hall housing for veterans who are admitted to the University of Maryland as first-year students following their military service.

Veterans can also contact an admissions counselor at (301) 314-8385, Maryland's Returning Students Program office at (301) 314-7693, and Maryland's Veterans Affairs office at (301) 314-8239 for additional support.

1. Exempted Pre-Approvals
   1. Resident Students Exempted and Pre-Approved in the On-Campus Student Housing Strategic Plan.*
2. First-Year Students    
   1. New Fall First-Time Freshmen meeting enrollment confirmation and housing application deadlines of May 1. 
   2. New Spring First-Time Freshmen participating in Freshmen Connection and meeting enrollment confirmation and housing application deadlines of May 1.
   3. New Fall Transfers or Other New-to-Housing with Freshman class-standing (less than 15 credits at time of admission offer) and meeting enrollment confirmation and housing application deadlines of May 1.
3. Second-Year Students
   1. Returning Residents for a Fall semester for whom the previous Spring was their first or second semester of enrollment at any college or university and at least their first semester in a University of Maryland residence hall and meeting all housing eligibility requirements and established housing application deadlines.
   2. New Fall Transfers who have Sophomore class-standing (between 15-44 credits at time of admission offer) and meeting enrollment confirmation and housing application deadlines of May 1.
   3. Other New-to-Housing students with Sophomore class-standing meeting a May 1 housing application deadline.
4. Third-Year Students
   1. Returning Residents for a Fall semester for whom the previous Spring was their third or fourth semester of enrollment at any college or university and at least their first semester in a University of Maryland residence hall and meeting all housing eligibility requirements and established housing application deadlines.
   2. New Fall Transfers who have Junior class-standing (between 45-74 credits at time of admission offer) and meeting enrollment confirmation and housing application deadlines of May 1.
   3. Other New to Housing students with Junior class-standing meeting a May 1 housing application deadline.
5. Fourth and Fifth-Year Students  
   1. Returning Residents for a Fall semester for whom the previous Spring was their fifth or sixth semester of enrollment at any college or university and at least their first semester in a University of Maryland residence hall and meeting all housing eligibility requirements and established housing application deadlines.
   2. New Fall Transfers who have Senior class-standing (between 75-104 credits at time of admission offer) and meeting enrollment confirmation and housing application deadlines of May 1.
   3. Other New to Housing students with Senior class-standing meeting a May 1 housing application deadline.
   4. Returning Residents for a Fall semester for whom the previous Spring was their seventh or eighth semester of enrollment at any college or university and at least their first semester in a University of Maryland residence hall and meeting all housing eligibility requirements and established housing application deadlines.
6. All other housing applicants, including part-time undergraduates, post-baccalaureate students and graduate students.

* Students Exempted with Pre-Approved Housing Status

• Banneker-Key Scholars (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)
• Students in the Maryland Incentives Program (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)
• DRL Resident Assistants & Desk Operations Supervisors
• Students assigned to designated athletic spaces (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)
• Students assigned to Language House (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)
• Students assigned to Writers’ House (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)
• Students in the Honors College (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)
• International students attending UMD as part of an approved study abroad program
• RHA Executive Officers (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)
• Fostering Terp Success Participants (3rd and 4th Commitment Group)