I had a parent call me with a question about deposits and I decided it would be a good subject to explain in a blog post. College housing and deposits continue to evolve so it is important to understand the details and what it means for your student.
Colleges handle housing in a variety of ways. Some schools guarantee campus housing for four years and require students to live in dorms. Others offer no housing guarantees and no requirements to live on campus. In between these two opposite ends of the spectrum lie an array of options and requirements. There are colleges that mandate the first year or two on campus and do not guarantee housing for juniors and seniors. Others have serious housing shortages and students have to jockey to get a room in a dorm or a place off campus.
Some schools prioritize housing by application submission and others do it by the date of the enrollment deposit. There are colleges that require an entirely separate housing application and deposit, a method of putting yourself in a queue for housing. And to make it more complicated, some schools will allow you to apply for housing after you submit an admissions application and others make you wait until you are accepted. The University of Florida permits applicants to apply for housing after they have sent in the application. They charge a $25 fee and anyone who has an admissions portal can get in the housing queue. Florida State University does not allow students to apply for housing until they are admitted.
The challenge is when a college requires an enrollment deposit to place a housing deposit. This can force families that are considering a school with tight housing to deposit before the student has made a final choice.
One other note on housing-from Florida to California to Vermont, there are colleges that do not guarantee housing and have expensive off-campus options that can be difficult to secure. As you look at schools, do some investigating on how housing is handled and what the off campus housing market looks like in terms of cost and availability.