Four to six weeks after you apply to the university, the Department of Housing and Residence Education will email and mail you information about applying online for oncampus housing. All applicants receive this information, whether or not you plan to live on campus.
If you do want to live on campus, it is critical that you complete the online housing application and submit the $25 nonrefundable application fee as soon as possible. Receipt of both the application and the processing fee establishes your housing application date.
Campus housing is limited and is assigned on a first come - first served basis that is determined by your housing application date. The number of students who want to live on campus now exceeds the number of spaces available and freshmen receive priority. Of the 7500 residence spaces, 5200 are reserved for freshmen.
The Department of Housing and Residence Education will offer a residence hall contract if space is available after you have been admitted to UF. This is a legally binding contract that must be completed and returned with your advance rent payment to the Department of Housing and Residence Education by the date specified.
If residence hall space is no longer available when the Department of Housing and Residence Education receives your housing application and $25 processing fee, you will receive information about being placed on the housing wait list.
General Housing Information
- Residence hall contracts cover one academic year, fall and spring semesters. They also are available for the summer and/or spring only.
- The advance rent payment must accompany the signed contract ID form unless you are participating in the State of Florida Prepaid Program. That office will be billed directly for all rent payments (except summer) after UF receives the signed housing contract ID form.
- Campus housing is billed by the semester, not by the month or year.
- Rent statements for the initial term are billed to the permanent home address. Subsequent billings are mailed to the student's local address.
- Students who do not attend UF must notify the Department of Housing and Residence Education in writing to request cancellation of their residence hall contract. There is a cancellation fee.
- Residence hall contracts cannot be canceled unless you successfully petition and can provide written documentation to the Department of Housing and Residence Education of severe medical or financial hardship.
- Residence hall contracts cannot be canceled to live in a fraternity or sorority house unless a special release is approved by the director of Housing and Residence Education. Special releases generally occur only in the first two weeks of September.
- Residence hall contracts beyond the freshman year are limited to accommodate the incoming freshman class. Returning residents generally take part in a housing lottery early in spring semester to vie for those spaces.
- All freshmen who enter the university in the summer must live on campus that term if they desire campus housing in the fall.
If you are unable to attain oncampus housing, Gainesville offers lots of opportunities for housing off-campus, and many rental facilities are very close to campus.