Fall Online Room Selection

The following students are eligible to participate in Fall Online Room Selection:

• All students currently living on campus who are not graduating before the start of Fall 2026
• All students currently participating in a Co-Op, Domestic Exchange or Study Abroad program who lived on campus the semester before their program began

Any student who does not meet the above criteria can find more information about other housing options in the Late Assignments tab.

Every student planning to live on campus must complete the following steps on SPIRE under Housing > Room Selection:

1. Sign the latest version of the Residence Hall Occupancy License
2. Resubmit the Housing Profile
3. Request an appointment* on the Room Selection Home page (February 17 - March 13, 2026)
4. Select an available space when their appointment begins (March 25 - April 3, 2026)

*Students who apply for and are accepted into an application based community will be given an appointment. All other students must request their own appointment. If you miss the appointment request deadline, you will not be eligible for that process and may not receive housing for fall. Students who miss the deadline can find the next process to participate in under 'Unassigned Students' below.

Students can only select an assignment as part of one process. Once a student has selected an assignment for fall, they will not be eligible to use another process until the Summer Process. Students who select an assignment are subject to the Cancellation Fee Schedule.

Students who are projected to graduate before Fall 2026 are not eligible for Fall Selection processes. If you are currently projected to graduate, but believe you will be an active student in the fall, please update your graduation term in SPIRE before the application or appointment request deadline of the process you intend to use.

Residential Life is required to offer selection opportunities to all current on-campus and new undergraduate students before spaces can be offered to other students. Based on this, Residential Life is not able to offer housing options to unassigned or readmitted students until all current on-campus and new student demand has been met. These students are encouraged to review the Late Assignments section tab.

The upcoming academic year rates for campus housing are typically finalized by the Board of Trustees in June. We currently expect housing fees for on campus housing to increase by 3-5% for the upcoming academic year. You can find this year's rates on the Room Rates & Fees once Fall 2026 - Spring 2027 rates are finalized, this page will be updated.

Returning UMass undergraduate students, whether you’re picking a room, swapping, or still unassigned, here’s the Fall 2026 Room Selection timeline all in one place.

Don’t miss deadlines!

Don’t wait to the last minute! Strongly encouraged to attempt to select a space at the beginning of your appointment time.
 

Pre-Application

✍ ASAP: Sign Residence Hall Occupancy License
🪪 ASAP: Resubmit the Housing Profile
 

Application-Based Communities

(Optional but highly encouraged! Apply now!!!)
📝 Jan 28 – Feb 20: Apply
🔔 Mar 6: Notifications
🗓️ Mar 9–11: Appointments posted
📌 Mar 10–12: Select room
 

Regular Room Selection

📝 Feb 17 – Mar 13: Request appointment
🗓️ Mar 23: Appointments posted
📌 Mar 25 – Apr 3: Select room
 

Change / Swap / Pull-In

(for assigned students desiring a change)
📝 Apr 13 – May 29: Request appointment
🗓️ Jun 2: Appointment posted
📌 Jun 3–30: Select room
 

Unassigned Room Selection

(for unassigned students and students who miss initial deadlines)
📝 Jul 1–20: Request appointment
🗓️ Jul 22: Appointments posted
📌 Jul 23 – Aug 7: Select room

Students will be eligible for different processes based on their admit term.
 

Students admitted Spring 2025 or later

Students admitted in Spring 2025, Fall 2025, or Spring 2026 will receive priority consideration for shared spaces in traditional halls. This process will include enough spaces that all students who receive an will have an opportunity to select a housing assignment.
 

Students admitted Fall 2024 or earlier

Students admitted Fall 2024 or earlier will receive priority consideration for singles and apartments during the Fall 2026 room selection process. We are unable to guarantee that all students projected to be a junior or senior for Fall 2026 with an appointment will be able to select an assignment.  We will continue to work with students throughout the summer to help them secure housing.

Room Selection Priority Determination

A student's room selection priority is based on:

• Priority – the number of semesters that the student has lived on campus.
• Order within Priority – a randomly generated number used as a tie breaker for students with the same Priority.

These two numbers are used to order students' appointments for Online Room Selection and when room consolidation is completed. 

Students are able to view their room selection priority on SPIRE under the Housing > Room Selection Priority. An example of a student's room selection priority is listed below and a detailed description of each component follows:

Please note: Priority is not considered for students with Housing Accommodations from Disability Services.  Appointments for these students are based on the accommodation.  Students with an accommodation are encouraged to review the email they received from Residential Life Assignments at the time their accommodation was submitted.

Example:

Room Selection Priority 

Priority: 4
Order within Priority: 2525

The Priority listed for this student is 4. Priority is the number of completed semesters that a student has lived in the residence halls at UMass Amherst. This is the most important number to look at when trying to understand your Room Selection Priority. This group of students will have an opportunity to select housing  before students with 3 or fewer semesters.  They will select after any student who has lived on campus for 5 or more semesters.

Order within Priority is a randomly generated number that is given to all students who have the same number of semesters on campus. A student with the Order within Priority of 1 would be given the first place in line, followed by 2, then 3 and so on. Order within priority only matters when compared to other students with the same number of semesters on campus. For the example student above, they have an order of 2525, which is their place in line out of all students with 4 priority points.

Please Note:  Appointments typically begin in batches of students.  Based on that, it is likely that appointments for students with similar orders within priority will begin at the same time.

Room Selection Priority Comparison

Please see below an example of two student's room selection priority who will be participating in Online Room Selection. Both of these students have 3 semesters on campus. As you can see, Ann has a lower (earlier) Order within Priority than Chelsea. When appointments are determined for Online Room Selection, Ann will have an earlier appointment start time than Chelsea.

Example #1: Ann

• Priority: 3
• Order within Priority: 945

Example #2: Chelsea

• Priority: 3
• Order within Priority: 1843

Application Based Processes

Defined Residential Communities

• Application Period: Wednesday, January 28 – Friday, February 20, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.
• Acceptance Notification: Friday, March 6, 2026
• Appointments Post: Monday, March 9, 2026 by 5:00 p.m. (Appointments for Alternates\Waitlist students will post by 5pm on March 11)
• Room Selection: Tuesday, March 10 – Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.

Students can find the application for all communities on the Defined Residential Communities website. The following communities are accepting applications for the upcoming academic year:

• Asian/Asian American Student Community
• Disability Defined Residential Community
• El Barrio: Latinx Student Community
• Harambee: African/African-American Heritage Community
• Spectrum: LGBTQIA+ Student Community

All spaces in these communities are single, double, triple or economy triple residence hall rooms. Any unselected spaces in these communities will be available in the Fall 2026 Room Selection process. 

Students who choose not to select an assignment using their DRC appointment must request an appointment for Fall 2026 Online Room Selection if they wish to live on campus.

Appointment Request Processes

Fall 2026 Room Selection Process

• Appointment Request: Tuesday, February 17 – Friday, March 13, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
• Appointments Post: Monday, March 23, 2026 by 5:00 p.m.
• Room Selection: Wednesday, March 25 – Friday, April 3, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.

Students who request an appointment for this process may receive several appointments, detailed below.
 

Commonwealth Honors College Residential Community

This process is available to all members of the Commonwealth Honors College in good standing and who request a Fall 2026 Room Selection appointment. Eligible students will receive an appointment which will include all available CHCRC spaces based on their class year. The following types of spaces will be available in this process:

• Students admitted in Spring 2025, Fall 2025, or Spring 2026 will see single and double occupancy rooms in CHCRC suites. This process will be called the CHCRC Suite Selection Process.
• Students admitted in Fall 2024 or earlier will see single and double occupancy rooms in CHCRC apartments and the 4th and 5th floors of North D (CHCRC Break Housing Option). This process will be called the CHCRC Apt Selection Process.

Please Note: Historically, more students are eligible for this process than there are spaces in the community. Also, the University traditionally welcomes a new cohort of incoming CHC transfer students as well. Based on this, students who are not in good standing or who are not members of CHC are not eligible to receive an appointment. Also, unselected CHCRC spaces will not be available in other Fall Room Selection process or any change processes. The next opportunity to secure spaces in CHCRC will be during fall in-semester processes.
 

Shared Room Selection Process

The following students will receive an appointment for this process:

• Any student admitted in Spring 2025, Fall 2025, or Spring 2026 who either holds a spring 2026 housing assignment or is returning from a Study Abroad program, Domestic Exchange, or semester long Co-Op or internship.

This process will include enough spaces for all students with an appointment to select as long as they participate at the start of their appointment time. Spaces will include shared rooms, economy triples, expanded housing and a limited number of single and double occupancy rooms located in Sylvan. 

Please Note: After all students in this process have had an opportunity to select a space, any remaining spaces will be added to the Single+ Room Selection process. Based on this, all students who intend to live on campus for Fall 2026 are strongly encouraged to select an assignment at the beginning of their appointment time. After all appointments have started, students with a Shared Room Selection appointment will also receive an appointment for the Single+ Room Selection process at this time as well.

Please Note: Students with a private room accommodation from Disability Services will also receive an appointment at the start of the Single+ Room Selection Process in order to search for options that best meet their needs.
 

Single+ Room Selection Process

The following students will receive an appointment for this process:

• Any student admitted in Fall 2024 or earlier who either holds a Spring 2026 housing assignment or is returning from a Study Abroad program, Domestic Exchange, or semester long co-op or internship.

This process will include North Apartment spaces, single rooms and any shared rooms not used for the Shared Room Selection process. After all students in the Shared Selection process have had an opportunity to select a space, any remaining spaces from that process will be added to the Single+ Room Selection process. Students with a Shared Room Selection appointment will also receive an appointment for the Single+ Room Selection process at this time as well.

Please Note: We are unable to guarantee that all students with an appointment for this process will be able to select an assignment. Students who are sure they want to live on campus in the Fall are strongly encouraged to attempt to select a space at the beginning of their appointment time.

The processes outlined below are intended to allow students who secured an assignment for next Fall to change their housing assignment. Students can either complete a swap, roommate pull-in, or participate in the Fall Change Online Room Selection Process.

Fall Change Process

• Appointment Request: April 13 – May 29, 2026
• Appointments Post: Tuesday, June 2, 2026 by 3:00 p.m.
• Room Selection: June 3–30, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.

Students who wish to search for other available spaces can request an appointment for the Fall Change Process. Please note that spaces in this process will primarily come from other students requesting a cancellation of their assignment. Students who request an appointment for this process and do not select a new space will remain in their current Fall 2026 housing assignment.

Fall Swap

• April 13 – May 29, 2026

Students can use the Summer Swap Process to exchange like assignments (ex. shared room to share room, single to a single within the same hall, apartment to apartment). Students can complete the form in SPIRE under Housing > Room Assignment Changes > Room Swap from April 13 – May 29, 2026. When a student initiates a swap request, the person they intend to swap with will receive an email. Once both students have approved the swap in SPIRE, the assignment is automatically updated.

Fall Roommate Pull-In

• April 13 – May 29, 2026

Roommate Pull-In Form is available here.

Students who have a confirmed vacancy in their room are able to pull another student with a Fall 2026 assignment into their room. In order to be pulled in, the student must be eligible for the space. For example, a student who is not a member of CHC in good standing is not able to be pulled into a space in CHCRC. Students who wish to complete a pull-in can complete the Google form that will be linked above from April 13 – May 30, 2026. All matched pull-in requests received by May 29 will be updated by no later than June 1. Students should ensure that they are only logged in to their UMass Google account. Students who are logged in to a personal Google account will receive an error message that they are not able to access the form.

Students who do not hold a Fall 2026 housing assignment by April 3 at 4:00 p.m. can use the following processes to attempt to secure a housing assignment. Please note that we are only able to guarantee an assignment for freshmen.
 

Students with a Fall Room Selection Appointment who are Unable to Select a space

Students who participated in online room selection, but were unable to secure a space can request an appointment for the Fall Change Process. The majority of spaces in this process will come from students cancelling the assignment that they selected during Fall 2026 Room Selection. This process is primarily intended to allow students who hold an assignment to make changes. Appointments for students without an assignment will begin after all students with an assignment have had an opportunity to change.
 

Fall Change Process

• Appointment Request: April 13 – May 29 , 2026
• Appointments Post: Tuesday, June 2 , 2026 by 5:00 p.m.
• Room Selection: June 3–30 , 2026 at 4:00 p.m.
   

All Other Students Without An Assignment

Unassigned students interested in receiving regular updates about housing options over the summer are encouraged to fill out the Fall 2026 Housing Interest Form. While we expect that there will be options available to students who are still seeking on-campus housing, we strongly encourage any Sophomore, Junior and Senior to research off-campus housing options as well.

Before working with unassigned students, Residential Life is required to assign all new first-year and transfer students because they are guaranteed on-campus housing. After new student assignments are complete, any remaining on-campus spaces will be offered to unassigned students as part of the Unassigned Fall Room Selection Process. Residential Life is only able to guarantee on-campus housing to freshmen, who are required to live on campus.
 

Unassigned Fall Room Selection Process

• Appointment Request: July 1 – July 20
• Appointments Post: July 22 by 5:00 p.m.
• Room Selection: July 23 – August 7 at 4:00 p.m*

*Online Room Selection will be unavailable on August 3 and August 4 to support a brief change process for new students. Selection will be available again on August 5 at 10:00 a.m.

Fall Room Selection FAQ
Find answers to common questions about Fall Room Selection.

Floor Plans
View room dimensions and bathroom locations for every residence hall by selecting a residential area. 

Gender-Inclusive Housing
View options for gender-inclusive housing and a list of gender-inclusive bathrooms in residence halls. Also, Residential Life is required to assign students based on the gender marker listed in SPIRE. Students can change their gender marker for assignment purposes and the name that appears on campus records by completing the form.  To ensure that students see the appropriate spaces in Online Room Selection, we encourage anyone planning to submit this form to do so by February 27.