Residence Life FAQs

Housing and roommate assignments will be sent to your UP-student e-mail account in mid-June. We will then continue to process new applications throughout the summer.

Yes, all first year students live in one of six residence halls: 

• East Quad
  • Shipstad (Co-ed)
  • Kenna (Female-Facing)
  • Christie (Male-Facing)
• West Quad
  • Corrado (Co-ed)
  • Mehling (Female-Facing)
  • Villa Maria (Male-Facing)

Each hall has a unique community and its own special events. You can learn more about those halls here.

There are video tours of each residence hall on our webpage. Unfortunately, we are not usually able to set up tours of individual rooms.

Traditional coed halls are gender-divided by floor or wing. The communal bathrooms are single gender corresponding to the section they are in.

UP houses students based on their gender identity and will work with any student to find them comfortable and appropriate housing.

Either a double occupancy sized room with two people living in it, a triple occupancy sized room with three people living in it, or a quad sized room with four people living in it.

Currently all first year students are assigned to double or triple rooms unless medical accommodations are required.

At UP, all new students have a roommate. Research shows that having a roommate in your first and second years of college is an important component of the learning, development, and formation you will experience.

Please click here to download a list. This is just a list of recommendations. In general, our advice is to not buy/bring it if you are not 100% sure you need it. Afterall, if it isn't an absolute "need" during your first week here, then you can always order it online and have it delivered to campus if/when you need it.  

No problem! Click here to learn more UP's Accessible Education office including how to apply for various housing-related accommodations.

Yes. We want all students to feel safe, comfortable, and supported. We support our transgender and non-binary students by letting them live with roommates who share and/or affirm their identity. Students with questions, or who are in need of assistance, can email us at reslife@up.edu to arrange a consult any time!

You are required to complete a roommate group in StarRez if you want to live in a triple, quad, UP Rental, or a Haggerty & Tyson apartment. Your group must completely fill the size of room/rental/apartment you want to choose. If you don't have a roommate and choose a double room during selection, your assignment will be consolidated and you will be assigned a random roommate. You may also be moved to a different room.

1. Everyone in the group must complete their housing application, then one member logs back into eRezLife to create the group.
2. Open the sidebar menu on the left side of the page.
3. Click on the "roommate groups" tab.
4. Under the "Housing & Meal Application" section, click on "create a roommate group".
5. Follow the instructions on that page to request other students to be in your roommate group.
6. An email will be sent to the other group member’s UP email. Each student must accept your request or they will not be included in the group. You will know if someone accepted your invitation if there is a green checkmark next to their name

Yes, StarRez has a built in roommate matching portal to help you.

You can view a selection instructional video here. After you (or one of your roommates) choose a room, you will then choose your meal plan and (if applicable) adjust room assignments in rentals, apartments, and suites.

If you are part of a roommate group, one of your roommates will be able to add you to the room they choose.  If you are not part of a roommate group and are in class, living abroad, or have a university obligation that you cannot be excused from during your housing selection timeslot, you can email us at reslife@up.edu to be assigned by a Residence Life staff member. You will be assigned to a room based on your application preferences and available rooms.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide any specific guarantees or odds of your chances to select a certain room type or residence hall. There are very few single rooms in traditional residence halls and 50% of rooms in those halls are always reserved for incoming first-year students. Coed halls tend to be the most popular halls during housing selection.

There are a variety of 2-to-6-person rentals and 4-7-person apartments. There are also two 12-person, and  one 18-person apartments that are often pre-reserved by large groups. UP Rental homes only have single rooms while Haggerty & Tyson apartments have some singles and at least one double room per apartment. If you are assigned to an apartment, you can change your room assignments to decide which of your roommates will live in the single and which will live in the double.

You can log onto eRezLife to browse available rentals and apartments.

You may indicate on your application whether you prefer to get a new timeslot for traditional housing selection or you may cancel your housing application. While unlikely, you may also wait until the final cancellation day listed in the housing application to cancel your housing application to see if any apartments or rentals become available.

Yes! If you sign up early we can help with that. You will still need to re-apply for housing for the upcoming year. Then email us your request at reslife@up.edu.

Either a double occupancy sized room with two people living in it, a triple occupancy sized room with three people living in it, or a quad sized room with four people living in it.

If you have a registered housing accommodation with AES, you must complete a housing application and email us at reslife@up.edu by Monday, February 13 to be assigned to a room in a traditional residence hall which suits your accommodation needs. If you want to apply for a new housing accommodation, AES explains the application process here.

In many cases, yes. If you are graduating in December or studying abroad in the Spring semester, you will need to submit a Petition to Cancel form during the Fall semester and it will be granted automatically.

If you are studying abroad in the Fall semester, will need to submit the spring application, which opens in early fall. You will not be able to reserve a space for the spring as we cannot hold a space for a student that will not be here.

However if you sign up for housing starting in the fall and are continuing your studies in the spring, your contract does continue for the entire school year.

We do allow some sophomores and above to "buy out" a double room for use as a single. This is only permitted as space allows, and priority is given first to juniors and seniors, and then in the order requests are received.

Students can edit their applications on eRezLife up until the initial deadline which is used to determine timeslots for housing selection. Student can edit their application until they are given a housing assignment.

UP has enough housing for every student who needs it. Please sign up ASAP and be in touch with our office via email at reslife@up.edu. The sooner you do, the better the chances that we can get you the housing that you desire. High demand spaces, like 4-person apartments and single rooms tend to go quickly.

See the housing contract for rules on contract cancellation. The housing contract is in eRezLife and was agreed to when you signed up for housing. It is also linked on the Contracts and Forms page. Depending on when you decide to cancel there may be a fee. Each year, after the contract date cancellations require approval and must be requested by completing the Cancellation Request form in eRezLife.

Summer housing is charged by the week, and you can find the current year’s rates here.

Summer housing scholarships ONLY cover the cost of a double room for the exact weeks that you are in the program. If you wish to extend your stay, or upgrade to a single room (if available) then you must pay the difference.

No, all summer housing is done in Lund Family Hall. All other residence halls are closed during the summer for repairs or for use by summer camps. Even if you currently live in Lund Family Hall, we will likely need to change your room because rooms are used by multiple students over the summer.

Food service is available during the week at the Pilot House. On weekends the Pilot House may be closed. There are no meal plans and all food purchases are made via credit or debit cards.

UP has a program to provide housing for college students with internships outside of UP. Please see Intern Housing for more information.

Please click the following link for first year orientation information, and this page has move in dates for all students.

Limited storage is available in each resident's room. Each hall has an area in the basement for storage of larger articles, trunks, and packing boxes.

Over the summer, or while studying abroad, students may purchase trunk room storage. See the Trunk Room Page for details.

Although the storage areas are secured, residents store belongings at their own risk. The University of Portland is not responsible for loss, theft, or damage of any items stored.

Yes. Several residence halls have specific bike storage rooms (space permitting). All the residence halls have U-shaped bike racks near the front of the buildings and there are several U-shaped bike racks around campus for storage.

Bikes cannot be stored in residence hall hallways or be secured in doorways, handrails, stairwells, ADA access areas, or any area designated as fire exit.

UP recommends all students have renters insurance.

The University assumes no responsibility in most instances if your personal belongings are lost or damaged in your room or in other areas of the hall, such as laundry rooms and trunk rooms. You may already be covered under a parent or guardian's home insurance. For students seeking to purchase renter's insurance, the University has partnered with GradGuard, a service of Next Generation Insurance Group.

During fall break, Thanksgiving break, spring break, and Easter weekend the halls remain open, but with limited services. All residence halls, including Haggerty & Tyson Halls, close for summer vacation. Students staying over summer will have to move into Lund Family Hall over the summer.

Winter Break Closure:
First and second year students are required to move out of the residence halls for Winter Break.
Starting in December 2025, Juniors and seniors are permitted to stay in the residence halls during this break.

Please report any needed repairs right away. Students can submit work order requests here. Hall staff are also happy to help students submit work orders if needed. UP’s Facilities Services works hard to repair issues promptly, but can only fix things if someone reports them broken. It is better if many students report the same issue, rather than everyone assuming someone else reported it, and then our staff don’t know there is any problem.

The Department of Campus Safety issues all UP student ID cards. Campus Safety is located in Haggerty 100 and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To obtain a student ID, please go to Campus Safety with your class schedule, a University invoice, or a payment receipt. You will have your picture taken for the ID card. During new student orientation, the times and locations for obtaining a student ID will be posted. If you live locally or are visiting campus prior to orientation, we recommend getting your student ID early to avoid long lines at orientation.

Your student ID allows you access to your residence hall and serves as your meal card in University dining facilities. You should carry your student ID at all times while on campus.

If you lose your student ID, head to the Campus Safety Office in Haggerty Hall to be issued a new one. You will be charged a replacement fee, so please be careful with your UP ID.

Promptly replacing your lost ID ensures it cannot be swiped for meal points or used to access your building if someone else finds it. 

Yes. The University recommends that you lock your door whenever you leave your room; therefore, it is highly recommended that you have your key with you at all times. Please be mindful that you should coordinate door locking with your roommate(s) in order to avoid a lockout. In the event you get locked out of your room, you can contact a hall staff member or Campus Safety. A fee may be assessed for each lockout.

Lost room keys should be reported promptly for your security. Please go the Office of Residence Life - Tyson Hall # 123 (next to the student mail center) and report the issue. There is a significant fee for having a door re-keyed, and you will be asked to pay this before the new key is issued.

For your security, lost keys are not simply replaced. The  door is rekeyed by a locksmith so the fee to rekey a room is significant.

Every traditional residence hall has a number of washers and dryers available for residents to use. Students receive a laundry card when arriving on campus for the first time, and they keep this card for as long as they are in a traditional residence hall. Money can be added to the card using an "Add Value" station; there are stations for cash in the basement of Fields Hall/Schoenfeldt Hall (next to the laundry room) and the Mehling Hall lobby, and a station that accepts credit cards in Shipstad Hall. One load of laundry costs $1.25 to wash and $1.25 to dry.

Haggerty & Tyson Halls have a washer and dryer in each unit and do not need money or a laundry card to operate. Some UP-owned rental houses have washers and dryers left from past renters, but UP does not provide these or repair them.

Students are allowed to have one small refrigerator and one microwave per student room. Each traditional residence hall also has a community kitchen with a stove, oven, microwave, sink, refrigerator, as well as cooking and baking supplies such as pots and pans. Although students primarily have meals at the dining halls on campus using their meal points, we provide this space for residents who want to cook a special meal with friends or bake treats to share with their fellow residents. In Mehling Hall, our largest residence hall, every floor has a small community kitchenette, with a large kitchen on the garden level.

Haggerty & Tyson Halls have a kitchen in each apartment. Residents of Haggerty & Tyson are still required to have a meal plan and while many will eat most meals in the main dining halls, we understand that these older residents may want the independence and practice of occasionally cooking meals for themselves.

We believe that one great part of living in the community is the ability to gather with other residents to talk, play games, or watch a movie or TV show together. Each traditional residence hall is designed differently, but no matter where you are you'll find spaces for hanging out with others, whether it's a front lobby, a basement area, or a designated TV lounge. Some students may also bring homework into these spaces, though students should not expect them to be quiet study spaces.

Haggerty & Tyson apartments each have at least one "living room" area with (at minimum) a couch, a coffee table, and a hookup for a television.

What better way to get to know your fellow residents than through playing a game like ping-pong, volleyball, or basketball? You'll find a different assortment of options in every hall, whether it's a pool table, a ping-pong table, a foosball table, or just an extensive collection of board games. North Quad and East Quad each have sand volleyball courts, and West Quad and North Quad have outdoor basketball courts. There is also plenty of grassy space for a game of Frisbee or kickball in East Quad or West Quad. Visit your hall's front desk to check out recreation equipment.

Every residence hall has its own beautiful chapel within the hall where residents gather once a week for an evening weekday Mass. Everyone is welcome; you don't need to be Catholic to attend. The hall's pastoral resident will celebrate Mass. Some halls have their own special traditions, whether it's singing a particular song during Mass or allowing time for residents to contribute petitions for prayers. You are welcome to attend Mass in halls other than where you live, or even if you've moved off campus.

The University of Portland shall not be liable for loss or damage to personal property in student rooms, laundries, storage rooms, or other public areas. It is the responsibility of students to keep their rooms locked at all times. It is recommended that a private insurance policy covering personal property loss by fire, theft, vandalism, or other casualty be obtained by students at their own expense to cover such loss.

Residence hall front doors are locked at all times; residents can gain access to their own hall 24 hours a day by swiping their student ID card at the entrance.

To best ensure the safety of our residents and their possessions, the propping of exterior doors is not allowed except when specifically allowed by a University official (for move-in, for instance). Any damages occurring as a result of the door being propped will be billed to the individual responsible for the propped door. If it is not possible to find the person who propped the door, the floor, wing, or hall will be fined for each exterior door that is propped.

The University respects residents' right to privacy and so provides the following intervisitation hours:

Monday-Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to midnight
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Sunday & University Break Periods: 10:00 a.m. to midnight

During these hours, men and women may visit in the same private room. The reasoning behind these limited hours is twofold: (1) To foster respect for the study, privacy, and sleeping habits of other community members; (2) To provide a more safe and secure environment within the hall. Visitation hours are a privilege that may be changed by the hall director in response to inappropriate behavior. Overnight or extended visitation violations may result in a resident being asked to move off campus.

During the fall semester, residence life staff members will do fire and life safety inspections of every residence hall room. Students will be notified as to when these inspections will take place, and will be required to allow a staff person entrance to the room for inspection. If the students are not at home, the room will be inspected and a note will be left indicating the status of the room. Should a violation be found, the student will receive a letter indicating what the violation was, and will be expected to meet immediate compliance. If the violations have not been corrected after an unannounced re-inspection, fines will be issued.