Yes. All unmarried undergraduate students must live in residence halls on campus. Authorization to live elsewhere (Greek chapter houses and off campus) is granted at the discretion of the Director of Housing Assignments and Operations in special circumstances or when space is unavailable on campus.

Please visit the Off-Campus Authorization website for application dates and deadlines.

A random selection process (a lottery) is used to determine which students will have their requests for off-campus authorization granted.  Please visit the Off-Campus Authorization website full details regarding the 2025-2026 off-campus authorization process.

Yes.  New applicants are permitted to form off-campus roommate groups with up to three (3) other students.  Larger groups are not permitted. Properly matched roommate groups will either be granted authorization or denied authorization as a group.  Students authorized to reside off campus for the current academic year can only re-apply only as individuals.

Please visit the Off-Campus Authorization website full details regarding roommate groups.

No.  Forming a roommate group simply links you together with your requested roommates for the random selection process (lottery).

For the 2025-2026 academic year, students applying during the priority application window can form mixed cohort roommate groups.  Students applying during the general application period can only form roommate groups with other applicants from their class cohort.

Students who sign up for the off-campus waitlist can only form roommate groups with other applicants from their class cohort.

Students who receive off-campus authorization are allotted a period of time to decline their offer.  If students decline their off-campus authorization, they can participate in the on-campus housing assignment process.  Students who accept their off-campus authorization will not be permitted to participate in any on-campus housing assignment processes.

No.  We recognize that plans can change.  Offer acceptances and declines are managed on an individual basis; therefore, if you apply for and receive off-campus authorization as a group, one or more members of the group can decline the offer without impacting the rest of the group.

Students with off-campus authorization are responsible for securing their own housing.  Students are welcome to utilize the Off-Campus Housing Service to search available listings in the area.

Students who decide to study abroad, take a leave of absence, or participate in an out-of-town internship for the fall 2025 semester will forfeit their off-campus authorization for the entire 2025-2026 academic year and will be required to reside on-campus for the spring 2026 should they decide to return to Vanderbilt.

Students currently receiving aid who have questions about how residing off campus will impact their aid are strongly encouraged to reach out to their Financial Aid Officer.

No.  Early or mid-year graduation dates do not give students higher priority in the process.