Housing Frequently Asked Questions

The Housing Process is the name for the overall process of completing the Housing Application and participating in Roommate Matching and Room Selection. This 3-step process is important to providing our on campus students with as much choice as possible and helping them find their best-fit while living on campus. Our Residence Life team is always here to help and if you have questions about the process before or while completing it, email us at: ResLife@uml.edu.

The steps of the Housing Process are:

1. Completing the Housing Application
2. Roommate Matching
3. Room Selection

The Housing Application is available November 1 of the previous Fall semester, so the 2025-2026 Housing Application opened on November 1, 2024. Students can complete the housing application by accessing the Housing Portal and clicking on Housing Applications. Students then select the academic year housing application and begin the first step in the Housing Process.

The application does not require an application fee and all first year, returning and transfer students are welcome to apply for housing. There is no deadline for the housing application, but we highly recommend students complete the application by their specific priority date.

The Priority Dates for the 2025-2026 Academic Year are:

• March 31, 2025 for current students
• May 5, 2025 for first-year & transfer students

Students can apply for a Living Learning Community (LLC) through the Housing Application and can learn more about the LLCs by visiting our Living Learning Communities page.

Students that complete the housing application by the specified priority date will be able to fully participate in the Housing Process, including roommate matching and room selection. All rooms available to a student, and currently unassigned, will be shown to the student during their room selection timeslot. Available rooms and room-type options may be limited due to some criteria, including LLC status or classification.

Assignments are sent out a few weeks after room selection has occurred, this will vary by upper-class versus first-year / transfer processes each year.

Students that complete the housing application by the specified priority date will be able to fully participate in the Housing Process, including roommate matching and room selection. Room selection typical occurs 2-3 weeks after the housing priority date and all is accessible through the UMass Lowell Housing Portal. Students are able to create a profile and match with students who hold similar interests, majors, or who they may already know. Students that find roommates can form roommate groups between 2-8 students and are able to “pull-in” these roommates during room selection. More information is available on the Room Selection page.

Traditional, suite and apartment-style housing is available to all students and all class-years. With room options including singles, double, triples and quads, there are a multitude of spaces and options for all students. Single rooms are limited and room-type availability is dependent on what spaces are unassigned at the time of selection. Check out all of our residence halls on the Residence Halls page.

No, First Year students do not have to live in a specific residence hall and all residence halls are available to students of every class year and major. We aim to provide all students the most opportunity and choice possible to help every student find their best-fit on campus.

University Suites is the only residence hall reserved for a specific community and students who are accepted into the Honors Living Learning Community (LLC) can select to live in University Suites.

Check out all of our residence halls on the Residence Halls page.

Students planning to live on campus should expect that they will share common spaces as well as bedrooms and bathrooms in their residence hall. Students who feel they have a medical need and wish to request an alternate housing assignment due to a documented medical issue will need to provide documentation from the healthcare provider treating them for that condition in the format outlined in the housing portal process. Please see the Alternative Housing for Health Needs page for more information.

Students who have submitted a housing contract have entered a legally binding agreement with the university. This agreement secures housing with the expectation that once this housing is not needed, the Housing Office will be notified in a timely manner by filling out the housing cancellation form on the UMass Lowell Housing Portal. As outlined in your contract, the date in which you cancel may result in financial penalties. Any contract cancelled will incur a $200 cancellation fee as well as the penalties listed on the Cancellations page, please see this page for more information.

The Housing Application does not have a deadline and is open for applications throughout the academic year. There are two Housing Priority Dates, one for current students and one for first-year/transfer students. All applications that are received before these dates will be able to fully participate in the Housing Process, including Roommate Matching and Room Selection. Applications received after these dates will be subject to housing availability and may not be able to select their own roommates or rooms. We recommend all students interested in living on campus complete a housing application as soon as they are able, even if this is after the Priority Date.

The Housing and Food Plan rates for the 2025-2026 academic year are available now, and these rates are updated before the Housing Application is opened each academic year. Updated rates are available on the Housing and Food Rates page.