Frequently Asked Questions

Fall move-in for new students will take place on August 17 and 18. Move-in for returning students will take place on August 20 and 21.

Updated 7/5/22

Visit Protect the Pack regarding COVID-19 Surveillance Testing. 

Update 7/8/22

Room selection has already started for current students. New NIU students with a housing contract may begin selecting their room for next academic year on March 14. (Fall Housing Sign-up and Renewal)

Added 3/8/21

Students in a double room or suite accommodation will have a roommate(s). 

Updated 7/5/22

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 do know someone and want to be roommates you log in to Myhousing.niu.edu, 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 (New Hall 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.

Added 3/8/21

Yes. Students can learn more about our Living-Learning Communities, Special Interest Communities and Identity Based Communities by visiting our Communities webpage.  

Updated 7/5/22

On-campus living provides unique opportunities for student academic and social involvement. The University Residency Requirement stipulates that all single students classified as freshmen (fewer than 24 hours of NIU accepted college credit, and enrolling directly after graduation from high school) and has not reached their 21st birthday by September 1, and not residing with their parents or legal guardians (within 50 miles of the DeKalb campus), must live in a Northern Illinois University residence hall for a full academic year (August-May) or the following full academic year if admitted in the spring semester.

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.

Updated 2/4/22

Currently, our residential students may host one other NIU student guest in their room as a part of our COVID-19 mitigation strategies. As state and local guidance changes, we anticipate our guest policy will change for fall. This would allow an NIU student to host anyone in their room.  

Updated 7/8/22

Currently, face masks are not required in the residence halls. Students who prefer to continue to wear a face mask are welcome and encouraged to do so. Further information regarding face masks can be found at Protect the Pack.

Updated 7/5/22

Residents and their guests must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter NIU residential halls, and all Northern View and hall residents are required to upload proof of their vaccinations and booster. For more information, visit Protect the Pack. Submit your vaccination record or your medical or religious exemption request through MyNIU.

Updated 7/5/22

Housing and Residential Services has an established process for working with students who may need to quarantine due to the virus. We will directly work with Student Health Services, and the DeKalb County Health Department to determine the next steps when a student case emerges.

Updated 3/8/21

The safety and well-being of our residents is a top priority. NIU will continue with our increased sanitizing and disinfecting of high touch surface areas in the common areas including doorknobs, elevator buttons, handrails, countertops at all front desks, light switches, entry glass and door push plates. Restrooms and public spaces will 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 3/8/21

Your pin can be found on this page: 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: Talk to your community advisor and tell them you are interested in moving into a different space.

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. Your hall's office support 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, contact your hall's office support staff.

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 New Hall and Neptune Hall. 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.

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.

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.

All of our residence halls offer single-gender rooms.

Updated 7/8/22

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 housingsignup.niu.edu after you've signed a contract and go to Rooms and Meal Plans when online room selection is open.

Updated 6/23/20