First-Year Students

On this page you'll learn the 3 simple steps to find your Home at AU for the 2025-2026听academic year.听

It is important that students submit their enrollment and听housing deposits to the Office of Admissions as soon as possible to secure their preferred space. If you have any questions regarding the deposit process, please contact the Office of Admissions through undergraduatedeposits@american.edu.

Your 3 Steps to Your Home at AU!

Step 1: Applying

The housing application will open at noon on Wednesday, April 2, 2025听for students who have already submitted a housing deposit with AU Admissions. You can apply through the . The application allows students to complete their Roommate Matching Questions and review and agree to the Housing License Agreement (HLA).

The housing application priority deadline for first-year students is Wednesday, May 7 at 11:59 PM. Students who apply after the priority deadline will recieve a selection timeslot at the end of the process.

Step 2: Choosing my roommate(s)

Roommate matching begins at noon on Monday, May 12, 2025. You can match with 1-3 rommmates through the AU Housing Portal. The vast majority of available first-year rooms are traditional double rooms. Traditional triples (3 students) and Centennial Suites (4 students) are limited and will fill quickly.

You'll have the option to match with someone you know or search for a potential roommate using the roommate profile questions collected in Step 1. If you are part of a Special Housing Community or you are participating in All-Gender Housing, you will only be able to view and match with others with the same status. Watch听 we made that walks you through the process!

Step 3: Selecting my Home at AU

You will select your Home at AU in early June. You'll be assigned a timeslot (the time you can begin to select your room) between June 2-June 9, 2025. The earliest timeslots are given to Early Decision students and then all regular decision students are randomly assigned a timeslot. Students will receive their timeslot for selection on Friday, May 16, 2025.

Using the AU Housing Portal, you'll select a room when your timeslot begins and must select a space by noon on Tuesday, June 10. Students who don't select by this date will automatically be assigned a space by Housing & Residence Life.

We'll share more about this exciting last step as we get closer. As you select, you'll be able to search for available rooms based on building and room-type (traditional or suite-style) and you can learn about your roommate(s) through the system so you can reach out and connect in advance.

Emails

A copy of each email sent to first-year students will be shared here.

Key Dates

  • Applications open: April 2听at 12:00PM noon
  • Complete the three听steps of the ASAC Process (optional): 2025 date to be confirmed
  • Complete the Gender Based Consideration Form (optional): 2025 date to be confirmed
  • Priority Housing Applications Due: May 7 at 11:59 PM
  • Roommate Grouping begins: May 12听at 12:00PM noon
  • Selection Timeslots Announced: May 16听at 12:00PM noon
  • Room selection timeslots begin: June 2听- June 9
  • Room self-selection or self-change closes: June 18 at 11:59pm
  • Housing Charges added to Eagle Service: Late June

Where will I live?

The first-year residential community is typically housed across听Anderson, Centennial, Hughes, Letts, McDowell and Roper Halls. Each student has a community classification, which is visible to them in AU Housing Portal. Based on your community classification, you can expect to select a room in the listed hall/floor below during room selection in June of 2025 (community spaces to be announced). You can explore each hall through a Virtual Tour, view photographs, and learn about amenities available to you on our Residence Hall webpage.

Community Assignments Across Halls

Community Residence Hall(s) & Floor(s)
General Population FY
All-Female Housing
Black Affinity Housing Roper Hall
Community Based Research Scholars

Honors

3-year Scholars

University College

Lincoln Scholars
  • If you're not part of a special community listed above, you will be able to select from any available space when your timeslot begins across all First-Year buildings.
  • What about Centennial Hall? We want to provide you realistic expectations about Centennial Hall (the only suite-style hall available to First-Year students). All students should expect to reside in a traditional residence hall.听For the '25-'26听year, two of the six floors in Centennial will house sophomore students. Given this, a limited number of suite-style rooms will be available to first-year students. Housing & Residence Life expect all spaces in Centennial will be selected by Early Decision students. However, not all Early Decision students should expect to reside in Centennial based on special community membership and anticipated demand for the hall.
  • If you have an accommodation through ASAC or CDI, you can live across any of our halls. If you are part of a special housing community (ex. LLC or Black Affinity Housing) and your accommodation can't be met on the floor assigned to your community, you will be assigned a space nearby that meets your need.