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Your Guide to On-Campus Housing and Dining
When your student becomes a Boilermaker, you do too. We're here to provide you with information and resources to help your student find their home on campus.
An Introduction to On-Campus Housing and Dining at Purdue
Your Boilermaker’s home on campus is more than just a place to sleep.
When your student lives in University Residences, you can feel confident they're supported from day one. Dedicated resident assistants and residential life staff are available when questions or challenges arise, and quiet hours, study spaces and support centers help create an environment that encourages academic success.
Living on campus also gives your student a built-in community. Hall clubs, learning communities and programs that engage the support of faculty and alumni make it easier to forge connections and feel at home while staying close to classes, dining and campus resources. Housing for first-year students is guaranteed to students who sign up by the spring deadline.
University Residences offers a range of housing options and rates to fit your student's preferences and budget. Students rank preferences like room type, roommates and air conditioning during the application process. All rooms are furnished, and have utilities and Wi-Fi included in one bill. University Residences also works with the Disability Resource Center to support students with approved accommodations.
Learning communities are a popular option for first-year students to join a group of Boilermakers who share their interests, major or career goals. Learning communities typically include shared housing, common classes, unique learning opportunities and special events. First-year students who participate in learning communities earn higher GPAs on average than other new students.
Your student can apply to any learning community when they sign up for housing. The priority deadline to apply for learning communities is typically in April.
Living on campus means your student won’t have to worry about cooking or grocery shopping. Meal plans give your student a variety of options to fit their schedule, tastes and budget. Most plans include meal swipes, which are the number of meals your student can use each week based on their meal plan, and Dining Dollars, which function like a debit card and can be used to purchase meals.
Get Connected
Stay up to date with the latest communications and other important information by signing up for our Parent & Family Connections Portal.
Navigating the housing and dining process for the first time can be intimidating. To help familiarize you with our processes, here are some terms you and your student will encounter:
- Dining Dollars: A pre-loaded account that students can use like a debit card to purchase meals at various locations on campus.
- Identify roommate preferences: When your student signs up for housing, they will complete a questionnaire designed to help place them with a compatible roommate.
- Housing Portal: This is where your student will sign a housing contract, apply to learning communities, complete a roommate-matching questionnaire and more.
- Meal plan: A combination of meal swipes and Dining Dollars that your student can use to eat on campus.
- Meal swipes: The number of meals your student can use each week, depending on their meal plan.
- Priority deadline: The deadline for applications to learning communities, typically in April.
- Purdue Dining & Culinary: Operates residential dining options and provides meal plans for students to eat on campus.
- Spring housing deadline: The deadline for first-year students to sign up for guaranteed housing, typically in May.
- University Residences (UR): The campus entity that manages all university-owned and leased housing in West Lafayette and Indianapolis.
While specific dates can change from year to year, the typical schedule to sign up for housing and dining can be found below. Your student will complete all of these steps through the Housing Portal. Your student will gain access to the Housing Portal approximately two business days after accepting their offer of admission.
- Beginning in mid-January: Sign-up for housing and learning communities begins.
- April: Priority deadline to apply for learning communities.
- May: Deadline to sign up for University Residences housing.
- Summer: Make final meal plan selection.