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Residency Requirement

Housing & Residence Life recognizes the benefits of living in on-campus residence halls, such as higher retention rates and graduation rates. Beginning with the Fall 2025 cohort, AU will implement a two-year residency requirement. Students will be required to live in campus housing their first and second year. To ensure the success of our on-campus residents, we are focused on student thriving and the whole student experience, helping them build strong communities and foster connections to fellow students and AU. 

As we finalize details, additional information will be provided through this page and the housing application.

Participating Cohorts

New incoming first-year students for the Fall 2025 semester will be the inaugural cohort for the residency requirement. These students will live on campus for their first two years, 2025 - 2026 academic year and 2026 - 2027 academic year.

New transfer students for the Fall 2025 semester may be required to live on campus, additional details to be provided.

Guidelines for Exemption

We are currently working on an exemption policy that will be available for the Fall 2025 class. The exemption policy and instructions on how to apply for exemption will be updated here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our DC peer institutions such as George Washington University and Georgetown have a residency requirement. Additionally, AU surveyed 36 peer institutions in different parts of the country and found that 23 of them had a two-year requirement or more.

While we will ensure all first- and second-year students have a space on campus to fulfill this residency requirement, there will be opportunities for upperclass students to apply and select a variety of on-campus housing options.