Students can choose from a wide range of housing options, including traditional residence halls, suites, and apartment-style living. Students with specific needs — such as substance-free housing or disability-related accommodations — may be eligible for a pre-placement coordinated by the Office of Residential Life.

Housing Selection Process for 2026-27

Please be attentive to the deadlines and timelines listed below. These will help guide students throughout the process as students make their housing plans for the upcoming academic year.

  • February 1, 2026: Program accommodation applications (Housing, Emotional Support Animal, Parking, and Meal Plan) are due to the SASS office. This serves as the priority deadline for the Office of Residential Life. Documentation submitted after this date will be processed after the general selection process ends.

  • March 20, 2026: Specialty Housing and other pre-placements completed. 

  • March 24, 2026: Substance-Free Housing selection. 

  • March 26 - April 16, 2026: Apartment and Suite Housing (ASH) selection.

  • April 27, 2026: General Housing selection.

Incoming First-year Students

All incoming first-year students are housed in one of five residential halls just for first-year students. Students are placed by the Office of Residential Life based on the information they provide in their housing application. This placement process occurs in the early summer months. First-year students should expect to receive their roommate and housing assignment in mid-July.

Specialty Housing

In collaboration with the Office of Student Engagement, the Office of Residential Life offers Specialty Housing. Specialty Housing is geared toward students with shared interests or academic pursuits and provides a chance for like-minded individuals to live together and enhance their college experience. The variety across housing selection ensures that students can find a living arrangement that aligns with their lifestyle and enhances their overall college experience.

Organizations seeking specialty housing must be in good standing with the Office of Student Engagement and the Office of Residential Life. The group must be a recognized student group for at least two years prior to applying for specialty housing. Proposals for new specialty housing assignments will be reviewed by the Specialty Housing Board in early February. Each written proposal must include: a detailed description of the mission of the organization, goals, and how specialty housing supports their goals, how achieving goals will be measured, the reason(s) a specialty housing space is needed, and how the group plans to contribute to the greater Kenyon community.

Please email reslife@kenyon.edu to request an application for Specialty Housing.

SASS Accommodations

Kenyon is committed to supporting students with disabilities. The Office of Residential Life works closely with Student Accessibility and Support Services (SASS) to assist with housing accommodations to provide equal access. Kenyon requires students with disabilities to submit housing accommodation requests within the established deadlines.

Guided by residential availability and student feedback, the Office of Residential Life will enhance this Spring’s housing selection process to increase student choice in Apartment and Suite Housing (ASH). All parts of the process listed below are consistent with previous years; however, point 3.d. indicates an additional option in the process.

  • 1. Students with housing accommodations (deadline February 1, 2026) will be pre-placed according to their documentation requirements.

  • 2. Pre-placement information will be shared with students beginning on February 23, 2026, and no later than February 27, 2026.

  • 3. Once a pre-placement assignment has been received, students will have five calendar days to accept, decline or appeal their housing offer.

    • a. Upon acceptance, the housing offer will be confirmed, and the student will be removed from all other housing processes.

    • b. Students who decline their pre-placement offer do so with the understanding that a space that meets their accommodation needs may not be available to them later in the process.

    • c. Students may appeal their pre-placement offer through the dean of student development under the following terms: procedural error or new information.

    • d. Students with an accommodation that can be met in a residential hall space will now have the option to “hold” that housing accommodation offer while/if they choose to participate in the ASH process.

Students with housing accommodations offered a placement in a traditional residential hall room (single or double, not in a suite or apartment), may “hold” their pre-placement and participate in ASH, if they are interested in pursuing apartment and suite style living. If students are not able to secure a suite or apartment during this process, they can default back to their original, “held” pre-placement or decline the original placement and opt to participate in the general housing selection process.

Students pre-placed in apartments may not “hold” their unit to participate in the ASH or general selection process. Due to the variable occupancy of these units, we would be unable to offer the maximum number of spaces to all students in a fair and equitable process.

There are several factors that go into pre-placement considerations and these are considered in concert with the Associate Director of Housing Operations, Dean of Students, Dean of Student Development, Director of Student Accessibility and Support Services, and Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life. These factors include, but are not limited to: the nature of the accommodation, availability of spaces, class year, and proximity to peers.

Apartment and Suite Housing (ASH)

After their first year, students seeking non-traditional residence hall spaces, such as apartments and suites, can participate in the ASH housing process. Students will form groups of their peers, submit an application via an email form sent from the Office of Residential Life email account (reslife@kenyon.edu). In this form, students will rank their areas of interest based on group occupancy and then be placed in available spaces using a standardized point system created by the Office of Residential Life. Apartment and Suite Housing Process.