Freshmen & New Student Housing Selection

The Office of Residence Life’s Housing Selection allows new and incoming students the opportunity to select their residence hall and their actual room based on availability! 

Housing Selection is the process for you to select your residence hall, the actual suite, and the room that you will live in during the upcoming academic year. Beginning in May, incoming students who have paid their housing application fee can log into the housing portal and see all of the available suites and rooms. 

Steps to Housing Selection: 

1. Log into the Residence Life Housing Portal using your Kean email and password. 

2. Complete the Fall 2025 Housing Application and submit the $125.00 non-refundable application fee. 

3. Search for Roommates using the Roommate Search tool. You will only be able to search for potential roommates who have also submitted the Housing Application. 

4. Log into the Housing Portal and access Room Selection on your assigned Room Selection date and time. 

Get ahead of the game. Committed Cougars who have already submitted their immunization records and proof of health insurance will have VIP access! The Early Access Pass grants you access to Priority Housing Selection ahead of the general population from May 5-9, 2025. To qualify, submit your housing application, submit the $125.00 non-refundable housing application fee, and submit all immunization records and proof of insurance via the Student Health Services portal no later than 12:00 p.m. on Friday, May 2, 2025. 

Students who apply for housing after May 2nd will receive access to the General Room Selection process between May 12 - June 20, 2025.  

All residential students are required to have a meal plan. A default meal plan will be assigned. Later this summer, you will be able to change your meal plan for the upcoming year through the Housing Portal. Residents will be able to change their meal plan up to 3 times before the first week of the Fall semester in the Housing Portal. Please be mindful of making meal plan changes as it may adjust your billing. The University and Gourmet Dining are able to cater to a wide variety of dietary restrictions, students with food allergies, and other medical dietary limitations.  

Future Cougars who reserve their housing early through Housing Selection will go into the summer months set up for a seamless transition into their first semester. Once you reserve your housing and select a meal plan, you will have a concrete idea of your total attendance cost before the first bill comes due! 

Housing Selection will remain open through June 20, 2025, or until the residence halls reach capacity. Residence Life will automatically assign anyone who doesn't self-select their housing based on remaining available spaces. 

The final day to cancel your Fall 2025 Housing Application with no cancellation charge is June 9, 2025. 

Roommate Search is now available on the Housing Portal for you to search for and request your future roommates and suitemates! If you need help finding a roommate, please review the Roommate Search Guide and video tutorial to help match with your future roomies. Once Housing Selection opens in May, you’ll be able to assign yourself AND your roommate group to the suite of your choice. Note: You’ll only be able to search for other students who have also submitted their housing application and a $125.00 non-refundable application fee. 

Roommate Tips

• You can only search for students who have also submitted the housing application. 

• All members of the group must request and accept each other. If even one person does not accept another student's request, you may run into trouble during Room Selection. 

• Make sure all group members have provided the same response to the Inclusive Housing questions on your application. Have questions about this? Contact us! 

• Do not participate in Housing Selection or select a room until ALL desired members of your group have applied for housing and are matched. This will ensure another student does not select your suite's vacant space(s).  

• Communicate your building and floor preferences ahead of time to ensure everyone is on the same page. 

• If you are assigning members of your group other than yourself, be sure to let them know. 

We have designated floors or wings in our residential community specifically for special populations, including incoming Transfer students, International students, and Wenzhou Kean exchange students. 

Transfer wings are located in Upperclassman Residence Hall, Burch Hall, and Sozio Hall. 

International students are able to select from available spaces in Cougar Hall, Burch Hall, Rogers Hall, Sozio Hall, and Upperclassman Residence Hall. 

These international communities include full suites available to be reserved, as well as spaces within partially occupied suites for students who would prefer to live with an American student. 

There are several important steps you can take to ensure you are ready and able to move in for the year. Make sure you have completed the following before August 1st: 

• Register for classes with a full-time (12 Credits for Undergraduate & 9 for Graduate students) status. 

• Upload immunization records AND proof of health insurance to the Student Health portal. 

• Fulfill financial obligations. 

Have any questions? Contact Residence Life by emailing reslife@kean.edu or dialing (908) 737-1700. 

Review our Instructional Guides: 

• PDF: Housing Selection Guide

• PDF: Roommate Search Guide