First-Year Live-On Requirement

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Live-On Requirement

First-Year Experience

Living on-campus is an important component of a student’s first year at Eastern Washington University. New, first-year students are required to live in an EWU residence hall. This policy is designed to increase student success and persistence to graduation.

On-campus living provides unique resources and connections that help students create a successful and well-rounded college experience, and research has shown that living in student housing during the first year has numerous academic and social benefits for students. In particular, students who live on campus during their first year typically experience the following benefits:

  • Higher graduation rates than students who live off-campus
  • A higher level of satisfaction with their college experience
  • A higher level of involvement in clubs and activities on campus
  • More frequent interaction with faculty members and peers

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Students beginning their first year of college in Fall 2024 and after will need to complete an exception request form if they do not want to live on campus. If you wish to live off campus, you must fill out an exception request form AND be approved to live off-campus.

We hope you will consider living on campus with us. However, if you are not planning to live on campus, you do not need to complete a Housing Exception Request.

Yes. In order to be exempt from the live-on requirement, you need to have one year of college after high school graduation.

If you have attended a college or university for a full academic year after you graduated from high school, you are not required to live on campus. It is possible you will still have a housing hold and need to fill out a Housing Exception Request.

Students planning to live with their parents or guardian will need to complete a Housing Exception Request.

Housing Exception Request