Guaranteed Housing Plan for Undergraduate Students

How many years of housing am I guaranteed?

Stanford students who matriculate as freshmen are guaranteed four complete or partial years of housing, including the freshmen year. The four complete or partial years are commonly referred to as “guarantee years.” Transfer students receive three guarantee years (three complete or partial years of housing).

Do my four guarantee years equate to twelve quarters of housing I can take at any time?

Students use a guarantee year when living in housing for an entire academic year (Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters) or if they live in housing for any part of an academic year. This means that a student who lives in housing for one quarter or even for only a portion of one quarter has used one guarantee year.

Students sometimes incorrectly assume that they have a guarantee of 12 quarters which can be taken at any time and over more than 4 years. This is not true. Students have four guarantee years and anytime a student lives in housing for an entire academic year or a portion of an academic year, one guarantee year is used.

Guarantee years are used when living in any on campus undergraduate residence, graduate residence, or off-campus subsidized residence. This includes fraternities, sororities, private title houses, and Oak Creek Apartments. The following students use guarantee years in the same fashion as all other students: residence staff, house officers, students with disabilities/ medical accommodations, “pulled in “ roommates of staff or students with medical assignments, and pre-assigned students.

If I have a guarantee year remaining, am I guaranteed housing for any quarter I choose?

Even though a student has one or more guarantee years remaining, that student is not necessarily guaranteed housing for any particular quarter unless the student does the following:

• Has at least one guarantee year remaining.
• Applies for housing by the waitlist deadline for the quarter in which the student wants to move in.
• Selects “I am willing to accept any other assignment” as his/her final choice on all housing applications (Draw application, Waiting List application, Continuous Assignment application). If a student fails to select “I am willing to accept any other assignment” and is left unassigned, that student is no longer guaranteed housing for the quarter in which he/ she has applied. Students should always pick "I am willing to accept any other assignment” unless they really are willing to live off campus.
• Participates in Waiting List and Continuous Assignment rounds by the specified deadlines. For example, students not assigned during the Draw must apply for the Waiting List round. Students not assigned during the Waiting List round must apply for the Continuous Assignments round.

Students who meet the above conditions are always housed by the end of the first week of the quarter in which they have applied for housing. If there is not enough space in undergraduate residences to accommodate all of these students, some undergraduate students may be assigned to vacancies in graduate residences or University-assigned, off-campus complexes.

What happens if I cancel my housing assignment or withdraw an application?

Students who apply for housing but then withdraw their applications prior to being assigned keep their guarantee year with no impact.

Students who are assigned housing but cancel their assignments prior to moving in lose one guarantee year. If the student applies for and is assigned housing later in the same academic year, we will not take an additional guarantee year. However, if the student does not receive housing later in the same academic year, the student has forfeited one of his/ her guarantee years.

Students in this situation may petition to have their lost guarantee year returned. However, guarantee years are usually only returned for the following reasons:

• The housing assignment was canceled because the student took a leave of absence for the quarter in which he /she was scheduled to move in.
• The housing assignment was canceled because the student was enrolled in a Stanford Overseas program (Bing), Stanford in Washington, or Hopkins Marine Station.

Students who are assigned housing but cancel their assignments after moving in must file a Termination of Occupancy Form in Axess. Students in this situation have used one guarantee year. If the student applies for and is assigned housing later in the same academic year, we will not take an additional guarantee year.

How is my Application Number related to my guarantee?

When students apply for housing, they are assigned an application number. The application number determines the order in which students are assigned. The lower the application number, the sooner the student is assigned.

Regardless of application number, students who are guaranteed housing for a particular quarter are always assigned before students who are not guaranteed. This means students with no guarantee years and students who are not guaranteed for a particular quarter because they missed a deadline or were unassigned and did not select “I am willing to accept any other assignment” will only be assigned after all students who are guaranteed housing have been assigned.

Students who are assigned housing but cancel that assignment prior to or after moving in forfeit their application number unless the student is on a leave of absence or enrolled in a Stanford Overseas program (Bing), Stanford in Washington, or Hopkins Marine Station.

Last modified Tue, 26 Mar, 2013 at 16:53