Spring-Only Housing Selection
Spring 2026 Housing Selection
Students abroad for the Fall 2025 semester will participate in our Spring-Only Housing Selection process.
- Students participating in Spring-Only Housing Selection will select their room and meal plan for the spring semester on Wednesday, December 10 via the Housing Portal.
- The Availability list, which will indicate all open housing spaces for selection, will be live on December 5 in the Housing Portal. This list is dynamic and updates about every 15 minutes throughout the selection process as spaces are chosen.
- Selection times will be available on December 5 in your Housing Portal.
- All selection times will be between 10:00am-4:00pm Eastern time, so please plan accordingly.
- Please note that options will be limited; you are not guaranteed the option to select a roommate group or roommate of choice. It is possible that you will need to fill an empty bed in a double room with an existing roommate.
- You should plan for roommate groups no larger than 2 people
- We anticipate Martin Hall being available for selection for Spring 2026.
- You will receive an email via your WFU email address with specific instructions to select your Spring housing and meal plan.
Moving Off-Campus for Spring 2026
Once you’ve received written approval to move off campus for the spring semester, you may begin searching for housing.
Finding Housing
- After your release, you are responsible for securing your own housing and signing a lease directly with a landlord or property manager.
- The University does not assign or place students in off-campus housing.
- Deacon Place and University-owned Polo Road houses are considered on-campus housing and are managed by Residence Life and Housing.
Off-Campus Listings
We partner with College Pads to maintain a list of registered off-campus properties at offcampushousing.wfu.edu.
- Our staff and College Pads work with landlords to post available listings.
- If you find a property that isn’t listed, landlords can register it at offcampushousing.wfu.edu/list.
- Some listings may offer individual bedrooms rather than full units—similar to on-campus arrangements.
Returning to On-Campus Housing for Spring 2026
Students may request to return to University housing, but requests are only considered if space is available.
To submit a request, email housing@wfu.edu from your @wfu.edu address.
Residency Requirement
Once you’ve been released from the University’s residency requirement, you are expected to live off campus for the remainder of your time at Wake Forest.
You may later request to return to on-campus housing (for example, senior year), but these requests are reviewed after the current on-campus housing selection process is complete.
Spring 2026 Housing Selection Communication
- October 24, 2025: Spring 2026 Housing: Key Information & Next Steps
- October 22, 2025: Off-Campus Lottery Deadline Extended
- October 21, 2025: Upcoming Deadline for Spring 2026 Processes
- October 8, 2025: Spring 2026 Housing Processes
Frequently Asked Questions
Students should wait to form roommate groups for Spring-Only Housing Selection until late October.
Because of the limited inventory available for selection, groups should include no more than two individuals. We do not expect entire suites to be available, but once the availability list is released, you can make plans based on the options provided.
Please note:
- Until October 22, the only roommate groups being formed are for the off-campus lottery.
- If your group is not selected for the off-campus lottery, your existing group will be deleted.
- After that, you can form a new group (up to two people) for the Spring-Only Housing Selection process.
Students studying abroad during the Fall Semester will NOT select housing during Housing Selection for the full year. Instead, students abroad for the Fall Semester will be required to select their housing for the Spring Semester online in December.
- In Mid-December, you will be required to electronically self-select your actual spring room and meal plan.
- An e-mail from Residence Life and Housing will be sent to your WFU e-mail account with log-on times and instructions on self-selecting your spring room and meal plan.
- Wake Forest University views living on campus as integral to a liberal arts education and the Wake Forest experience. In support of that view, Wake Forest University has a six-semester residency requirement; your semester abroad will count as one semester towards this requirement. You will be expected to return to on-campus housing upon your return to the University.
Students with 4 or more housing credits are eligible to apply for the off-campus lottery.
Wake Forest University views living on campus as integral to a liberal arts education and the Wake Forest experience. In support of that view, Wake Forest University has a six-semester residency requirement. Students with less than six semesters of housing credit should not make any plans to live off-campus unless they have been released in writing from the residency requirement by Residence Life and Housing.
As a part of the Spring Housing Process, students may choose to enter the Off-Campus Lottery. This indicates a desire to live off-campus prior to fulfilling the residency requirement. As Residence Life and Housing finalizes the number of students able to live on campus for the spring semester, they will use random selection to release the appropriate number of students.
When the Off-Campus Lottery period is active, it does not matter if you apply when it opens or right before the close date. You have the same odds of being selected.
You must submit your Spring Intent before you are able to enter the Off-Campus Lottery.
Directions on how to complete your Spring Intent and Off-Campus Lottery Entry
The Off-Campus Lottery opens on Wednesday, October 8 and closes on Wednesday, October 22. Results of the Off-Campus Lottery will be released by Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
Other FAQs
What if I want to live off-campus with a certain group of people?
Each group member must first complete their Spring Intent form. After submitting, the Housing Portal will prompt you to confirm your interest in entering the off-campus lottery. Once that step is complete, one student should create a roommate group and invite up to three others (for a maximum of four people total). All invited members must log back into the portal to accept the group, complete the off-campus agreement, and continue through to the final confirmation page. At that point, your group will be officially entered into the lottery, and each member will also receive an email confirmation.
How do I know that I have been successfully entered into the off-campus lottery?
Be sure to complete every step in the Housing Portal until you reach the page with a green check mark. You will also receive an automatic email confirming your successful entry. If you do not see the green check mark or receive the confirmation email, your process is not complete.
What if I would like to no longer be in the off-campus lottery?
To withdraw from the lottery, log back into the portal and select the option indicating you no longer wish to be considered. You will then receive an automatic email confirming your withdrawal. This must be completed by Wednesday, October 22, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. EST.
Can I form a roommate group with someone who is already living off-campus?
No, you cannot. You may enter the lottery, and if you are approved to live off campus, you can then decide whether you’d like to live with that individual.
In the event of a vacancy in their room, the remaining resident may pull in a new roommate of choice rather than having a new roommate assigned via Housing Selection or by Residence Life and Housing.
To pull in a roommate, the current resident must complete the pull in section of the Room Change Request form for the Spring 2026 semester found on the Housing Portal during the designated period.
Note: The request must be submitted by only one resident remaining in the space (room, apartment, suite) for the spring semester and discussed with all remaining residents in advance. If there are multiple spaces available, the same person may submit multiple requests.
If you are being pulled into a space, confirm with those residents that they have submitted the pull-in request. Students who are being pulled into a space for Spring 2026 will receive communication from Residence Life and Housing by November 21.
In support of students with disabilities, Residence Life and Housing has a wide variety of housing and dining options on campus that can accommodate the vast majority of disability needs.
Students who need to request disability-related accommodation should visit our website to begin the request process. For the Spring term, all students should provide complete documentation for consideration by November 15.
Students returning from abroad should pay particular attention to question four on the request form, which asks, “Have you previously requested accommodations for the CURRENT functional limitation? If so, what specific accommodations were provided? If not, what are the specific reasons for requesting now?”.
In most circumstances, the University is able to provide reasonable accommodations that allow the student to fulfill the University’s residency requirement without an early release. In the request process, students should specify their housing needs (e.g., single room, limited-use kitchen), not a preference for “off-campus”.