Please note all information provided aligns with our planning for fall 2026.
Fall move-in will occur the week of August 19-23, 2026. Detailed information regarding move-in will be sent to students’ NIU emails in late July/early August. We will also be offering a "drop and go" day on Aug. 8 from 10 am-2pm in all residence halls, except Patterson and Northern View Community, where students with a move-in reservation time may also sign up for a half-hour slot to drop off boxes and containers in their room and then go.
Updated 7/23/26
Depending on the room layout, there is a degree of flexibility to make adjustments. You can also request for your bed to be adjusted to a different level or potentially lofted to maximize the space in your room. Learn more about bed lofts.
Added 3/14/2023
No. Furniture provided by the university needs to remain in the room. We cannot store any of these items.
Added 12/19/22
Learn more about Housing and Residential Services' Illness Procedures and Expectations guidance for 2026-2027.
Updated 2/24/26
Students in a double room or suite accommodation will have a roommate(s).
Added 12/19/22
That’s okay. Most new students to NIU do not have a roommate preference and they receive a random roommate and have a great experience. But if you know someone and want to be roommates, log into MyHousing, and select 'roommates'. There, you can create a 'group' for you and your roommate choice, and the group leader may select the room for both students. Multiple group leaders can coordinate and try to select certain suites (Patterson and Stevenson) so that groups of roommates can select the same suite together. If you have any difficulties with your group, email us at housing@niu.edu.
Updated 2/24/26Once you select a space, you’ll be able to view your roommate on your MyHousing account. You’ll be able to contact them via their NIU email account to get to know them!
Updated 2/24/2026
Before you can select a room, you must first be admitted to NIU and have submitted your housing contract and prepayment. Learn more.
Added 3/14/2023
Please email us at housing@niu.edu to further assist you.
Added 12/19/22
Our sign-up process will be live through the summer. We will work to ensure that we have a room for all incoming residents, however, it is in your best interest to secure a space as soon as possible to ensure the greatest variety of options.
Added 3/14/2023
We currently have limited spaces available. If you wish to learn more regarding availability, please email us at housing@niu.edu. Learn more by visiting Communities.
Updated 1/9/26
Residents have the ability to host up to two guests within their residence hall room or apartment with the approval of roommate(s). Guests must be registered at the front desk at all times. Guests are not permitted to stay longer than 72 hours within a seven day period.
Updated 8/22/22
The safety and well-being of our residents is a top priority. NIU continues to sanitize and disinfect high-touch surface areas in the common areas that include doorknobs, elevator buttons, handrails, countertops at all front desks, light switches, entry glass and door push plates. Restrooms and public spaces continue to be cleaned and disinfected at least daily, often more frequently. Each hall has hand sanitizer stations, and the disinfectants being used are from an EPA-approved list of cleaners.
Updated 12/16/22
Your pin can be found at go.niu.edu/pin.
Before moving in in August: Log in to MyHousing and choose a new room from the spaces available. If the room you want to sign up for is not available right now, try checking back later. Room availability changes throughout the late spring and early summer.
After you've already moved in: Room changes are handled in the order we receive them when you join a waitlist for a room change. Changes are granted based on the availability, the specific request and the date received. When a room change is granted, the student is provided a specific window of time to complete the move, otherwise the change is cancelled.
Changing rooms between fall and spring semesters: If you are scheduled to make a room change between semesters, make an appointment with your community advisor to check out of your room within 24 hours of your last final, and remove all of your belongings from your room before the appointment. Housing Staff will work with you to determine your move-in date in January. Failure to remove all belongings and check out of your old room at the end of the fall semester will result in cancellation of your room change. If you have questions about your move out or move in dates, email housing@niu.edu.
Residence hall students use their NIU OneCard to enter the dining areas and may eat in any of the residential dining locations on campus. Meals are served cafeteria-style on an All You Care To Eat basis in Neptune Hall and Patterson Community Center. In Gilbert's East Side Café, and Stevenson's Retail Dining Center, food items are served on an à la carte basis and are purchased with Dining Dollars, Huskie Bucks, a meal exchange (Stevenson Retail Dining Center only) and most major credit or debit cards.
For more information, see Where to Eat and Meal Plans.
Dining Dollars can be used at any residential All You Care To Eat locations, residential Residential À la Carte Locations, and non-residential Residential À la Carte locations. The funds are allocated once per semester and rollover from week to week. Dollars not used by the end of the semester will be forfeited.
Huskie Bucks are separate from your dining meal plan. Your Huskie Bucks account is a pre-paid debit account that can be used anywhere on campus to purchase meals as well as various services like laundry and copying/printing. Huskie Bucks can also be used at many local restaurants.
For more information, see Meal Plans and Huskie Bucks.
Parents can request the form and sign it, then email a signed copy back to housing@niu.edu. You can also mail it in.
Please contact us at housing@niu.edu to do so.
On-campus living provides unique opportunities for student academic and social involvement. All single, new freshman students who will not have reached their 21st birthday by September 1, and who are not residing with their parents or legal guardians, or are not the custodial parent of a dependent child, must live in university residence halls as long as space is available. If students required to live on campus do not sign up for housing, they will be automatically charged for a double room.
Learn more about the university residency requirement.
Yes, this is a contract and a student is held to the full academic term of the contract.
Room and meal plan charges are added to a student’s account with the university and are subject to the terms and conditions of the Student Financial agreement managed through the NIU Office of the Bursar’s billing system.
Periodic statements will be posted on the student’s MyNIU web portal showing the amount due to the university and the payment due date. Terms and conditions governing billing and payment may be obtained from the NIU Office of the Bursar.
After the initial billing and statement date for a semester, your charges get added at least once a month to your Bursar's account. Typically charges will post no less than three days prior to a statement date.
Charges become due about three weeks after billing. Please refer to your MyNIU for your specific due dates.
For an upcoming semester, your charges will not be added until about three days prior to your initial billing statement. For the fall semester, this happens mid-July; for spring, early December; and for the summer, early May.
The standard housing contract does not cover official university vacation periods (between semesters). The residence halls are closed, meals are not served, and students may not be in residence during university closure periods (such as winter break) unless they live in one of the halls designated for break housing and have separately contracted for these periods. Students will have the opportunity to sign break contracts for winter break for an additional fee if they want to remain in the residence halls. Students may not remain in the residence halls beyond the specified closing time nor enter the residence halls at any time prior to the scheduled opening during these break periods without a break contract.
Be sure to take all needed personal possessions with you during break periods. All residence hall doors are locked over breaks. Door locks will only be able to be activated by the OneCards of students with break housing contracts. Hall staff members are not available to take residents without contracts to their rooms to get things they may have forgotten. Resident mail is not forwarded over winter break.
All of our residence halls are gender inclusive. All rooms and suites are designated by birth gender for roommates/suitemates. A residence hall floor, cluster (Patterson) or entire building will have all genders present.
Our website shows the availability of types of rooms in different halls, but some of the rooms included in the number displayed on our website may not be available to you during online room selection based on your academic status, gender or other requirements. The number of rooms available might also change by the time you go to select a room. The best way to know what's available to you right now is to log in at MyHousing after you've signed a contract and go to "rooms and meal plans" when online room selection is open.